Husband died last year,in-laws harassement

A child custody will be with the mother and not with parental grand mother and parental aunt.  Similarly, the death benefits of a deceased will be with the wife and child (as per hindu succession Act, mother of the deceased also will have share).  As per domestic violence Act of India, mother and aunt cannot interfere in your life and what they are doing is domestic violence and the courts in India in such circumstances restrict them to contact with you and your child either personally, telephonically or by any mode.  You contact some local advocate there and also police protection.  I heard DV Act there is stricter than India.

I had contacted my lawyer in the US and he told me to contact a lawyer in India and file a case there as the problem is in India. Does child custody arise here as this is not a divorce case? Will the decision on where my child stays not be mine?

I understand that your are in US.  If you want to say that the child is in India and he is living with your father and mother, then your advocate in US is correct.  The cause of action arises here and Indian laws and Indian courts are quite competent to protect your  and child's interests. You can get the orders of the protection of the child. 

You are correct.  After the demise of the father, mother is the sole custodian of the child.  She can handover the temporary custody according to her wish (here it appears you have given it to your father and mother).  If any one wants the custody of the child (here your mother-in-law and sister-in-law), they have to approach the court and not you.

I dont want them to interfere in my life or my son's life anymore. I dont want them to meet him also. If they approach the court what will the court's decision be in terms of they meeting my son? Also my husband's aunt is also warning us. Can I file a case on her too?

Thanks in advance

Sorry I meant to add another question. If I file a case now how long would it typically take for a decision by court and what is the process involved?

If you are in India and as the custody of the child is with you, you need not file custody case.  But being grand mother and paternal aunt, they will get limited visitation rights.   The court will take your opinion to find out your and child's convenient hours and visitation may be in your place.  These things will be chalked out in court by the judge by persuading the parties.

If they are threatening to take away the child, then you can file domestic violence case.  In this case, interim protection orders will be given   within 3 months of filing the petition before the Metropolitan Magistrate.

@Usha -> Why are you bickering with your MIL/FIL ?  Try to mend or workout something so that they can also see their grand-kid

No one knows what I am going through now. They have harassed me for money. They have scolded me in abusive language when I denied to give them money as it has to be used only to my son. They have threatened me in so many ways. They took my son's passport and blackmiled me for 2months. There are email proofs also. I waited patiently as I came from a very respectable family. I didnt want to file a case. But now I am vexed. I cannot bear this anymore.

@ Usha

At the very outset, I am sorry to hear about your situation. With the demise of your husband and a one year old child,  no one should subject you to anything more but in fact should be supportive and help you rehabilitate. 

Analysis of your situation.

1. You are a Indian citizen ( assumption-1) working in  USA. Your minor child is in India with your parents. Your son is a Indian citizen and holds a Indian passport ( assumption-2)

2. Your  SIL is in USA and they are harassing you for your late husbands money. 

3. The in-laws, grand parents have expressed desire to maintain contact with your son

4. Your in-laws MIL and FIL are in India (assumption-3) are harassing your son and your parents.

My take

1. You can apply for ex-parte DV orders to restain the SIL  who is in USA to stop harassment. You will get the orders the same day. Orders are valid for 3 days until hearing. On hearing, you bring the emails and other evidence and you will be granted a domestic violence restraining order for anything from 1-3 years. DV filing, serving is all free.

Keep in mind that a DV will impact the employment of your SIL in the USA and it will most certainly affect their right to visitation with your son.

2. If you are in any one of the following states, then you can file the DV papers using this tool https://www.icandocs.org/

California,Georgia,Minnesota,Massachusetts,North Carolina,Oklahoma,Virginia

3. As the Indian advocates have suggested, you can get a protective order in India against your MIL to stop harassing your parents and your son. 

4. If you are not a US citizen, then the fact that there is a DV protection may assist you in getting expedited Green Card, free / subsidized accomodation and many more monetary and other benefits. 

Warning note for you

Since you are the sole legal guardian ( your parents are not legal guardians), if your DV hearing has any element of suspicion that you are not a good parent, then odds are against you and you could lose the child to the US government - that the child is located in India will not matter if the child is US citizen. Court will order the child to be brought bact into the US. 

Second, if you decide not to file DV against your inlaws and the in-laws make a child visitation motion to the court and in that motion if they sling mud on you, you could potentially run into some serious issues and you could lose your child. On the contrary, if you are sling mud on them, then the court will give the SIL/MIL what is called as "Supervised visitation". The inlaws will have to pay money to a third party to meet the child for one to two hours. Current rate is $30-40 per hour to see own child under supervision. There is a more dirtier form if you want to make it real dirty and that is called as "clinically supervisied visitation". In this order, the other party/in laws/grand parents will have to pay a third party $100-$200 per hour. 

As a counter-offensive strategy, you should immidiately file a stipulation in the US and Indian courts signed between you and your parents that in the event of any unfortunate event, the legal guardians will be your parents. This will prevent the US government from taking over your child. 

As the real Sam has suggested, you should appear civil and give equal oppurtunity for grand parents of both sides to have relationship with the child. If the court feels that you are denying contact for the SIL, MIL with the child, you have serious consequences to face. 

Please email me offline and we can chat : reachadamkumar@gmail.com

When you reply, first please state the citizenship status of your child, yourself, your in-laws, SIL.