Sagar v. Sagar

In the course of contentious divorce proceedings between two devout Hindus, the husband moved the court for permission to perform a Hindu religious ritual, Chudakarana,1 upon the parties’ young daughter. After a hearing, a Probate Court judge ordered that, “The religious ceremony known as *72Chudakarana shall not be performed on the minor child, until the child is of sufficient age to make that determination herself, absent a written agreement between the parties.” On appeal from a divorce decree incorporating this order, the father maintains that the order violates his right to free exercise of…