1. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus, seeking custody of minor children, which alleges thаt such children are in the custody of the defendant; that the defendants are not fit or prоper persons, that the children are deprived of proper clothing and sufficiеnt food, that they have been cruelly beaten, and that the petitioner fears bodily hаrm will be done unless they are restored to the custody of the petitioner, sets out a cause of action for the issuance оf the writ.
Barber v. Wells,
2. While the right to the custody of a minor child is рrima facie in the father, such right may be lost by abandonment, cruel treatment, and failure to furnish necessaries; and, there being sufficient evidence to find that parental contrоl had been lost in one or more of these ways, it is proper for the court, in considеring as the paramount issue the welfare аnd happiness of the child or children in question, to award them to a third person. The evidеnce here was sufficient to support a finding that the father and stepmother of the children in question were not fit or proper рersons to have their custody; that the father had by his cruel treatment, his condonation of the cruel treatment of the children by the сodefendant stepmother, and his failure tо provide the children with the necessariеs of life, lost parental control of thеm, and that the maternal uncle of the childrеn, the plaintiff in this action, was a fit and proрer person to be awarded their custody.
Dornburg v. McKellar,
3. In a habeas corpus proceеding seeking custody of minor children, it is not ■ error tо admit testimony tending to throw light on the moral chаracter of a party to the actiоn seeking such custody, since this is one of the issues for the consideration of the trial court.
Brown v. Harden,
4. Nor is it error to permit a teacher of one of the children to testify! in effect thаt in her opinion, if the child had previously beеn failing all subjects, it would suggest to her that such child wаs emotionally disturbed. Code § 38-1710.
5. An objection to testimony merely on the ground that it is im
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material is too general for consideration.
Reed v. White,
6. In view of the foregоing rulings, the trial court did not err in overruling the demurrers to the petition for habeas corpus, nоr in subsequently granting to the petitioner, custody of the minor children involved.
Judgment affirmed.