In Eller v. Matthews, 216 Ga. 315 (116 SE2d 235) (1960), the trial court granted a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which the petitioner alleged that the father and stepmother of the petitioner's sister's children were not fit or proper parents, that they deprived the children of proper clothing and sufficient food, and that they cruelly beat the children. Id. at 315 (1). The trial court found that there was sufficient evidence to support the petitioner's allegations and issued the writ, granting the petitioner custody of the children. Id. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed, holding: While the right to the custody of a minor child is prima facie in the father, such right may be lost by abandonment, cruel treatment, and failure to furnish necessaries; and, when there is sufficient evidence to find that parental control had been lost in one or more of these ways, it is proper for the trial court, in considering as the paramount issue the welfare and happiness of the child or children in question, to award them to a third person. Id. at 315 (2). See OCGA 19-7-4.