Mother regains custody of three children after lengthy court battle

By Gevorg Tosunyan

A woman who accused her former husband of domestic violence has regained custody of her three minor children following a prolonged legal battle, after courts and child protection bodies reassessed the case amid sustained media coverage.

Varsenik Sedrakyan, who sought to change her children’s place of residence, now has all three children living with her, according to court decisions and findings by guardianship authorities. Sedrakyan argued that the children’s father, Abraham Margaryan, was abusive and that the children’s well-being was at risk if they remained in his care.

CivilNet had previously reported extensively on Sedrakyan’s case, documenting allegations of domestic violence and highlighting procedural shortcomings in earlier court rulings. Following CivilNet’s coverage in late August 2025, guardianship and trusteeship commissions in the communities of Garni and Martuni conducted additional assessments of the family’s situation.

Sedrakyan married in 2018 and lived with her husband and his family in the village of Lernakert in Armenia’s Gegharkunik region. According to case materials, incidents of abuse began in the fall of 2020 and continued until March 2023, when she left the family home.

After the separation, Sedrakyan sought custody of her children. However, procedural errors during initial hearings led the first-instance court to rule in favor of the father, granting him custody and sharply limiting the mother’s visitation rights. She was allowed to see the children only a few hours per week, requiring frequent travel between Armenia’s Kotayk and Gegharkunik regions.

Following renewed scrutiny prompted by media reporting, the Garni and Martuni guardianship bodies concluded that all three children should remain with their mother. In September, the Gegharkunik Regional Court applied interim measures, extending and formalizing the mother’s visitation rights while the case continued.

At a subsequent court hearing held at the end of 2025, Sedrakyan’s lawyer, Shushanik Arsenyan, said the testimony of the eldest child played a decisive role. During questioning conducted in the presence of a psychologist, the child said the father had instructed them on how to testify, warning that police would intervene if they did not comply. The judge concluded that the children had been subjected to psychological pressure and ordered a forensic psychological examination of both parents and the children, suspending proceedings until the results were available.

Shortly afterward, the father brought the children to their mother and left them in her care, stating that they wished to live with her. His legal representative later informed the court that the children were already residing with their mother and requested that the psychological examination not be carried out. The father also said he no longer wished to participate in further hearings.

Court records show that Margaryan has a prior conviction for violence against his brother and is registered with police as a perpetrator of domestic violence against Sedrakyan.

The case has drawn attention to the influence of sustained media coverage on child protection decisions in Armenia, as well as broader concerns about how domestic violence allegations are handled in custody disputes.