N Sunanda, former Thiruvananthapuram Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairperson, who was accused of lapses in the adoption procedure of Anupama Chandran’s baby in 2021, has been appointed a member of the state Child Rights Commission. Many have criticised the government’s move in giving Sunanda a higher post.
Anupama, whose baby was given for adoption without her knowledge, and her husband Ajith protested outside the Kerala Secretariat on Monday, August 30, against Sunanda’s appointment. “I feel there is no hope in this government. I had expected she [Sunanda] would be punished one day after the enquiry. Now by appointing her to a higher post, the government is mocking the state’s children. The internal enquiry report against her came 10 months back. This is how irresponsibly the government behaves towards children,” Anupama reacted. She also said that they will move ahead with their case against the CWC and others.
Last year, Sunanda and Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) secretary Shiju Khan were criticised for their role in the infamous Anupama Chandran case. Anupama is the daughter of Jayachandran, an influential CPI(M) politician from Thiruvananthapuram. On October 22, 2020, Anupama — who wasn’t married at the time — gave birth to a baby boy. Jayachandran separated the baby from Anupama without her consent and gave it up for adoption. The CWC is accused of colluding with KSCCW in technically abducting the child.
The CWC published a news report announcing that on October 23, 2020 — the day the child was taken away from Anupama — a girl child was received at an electronic cradle in Thiruvananthapuram’s Thycaud and that she was named Malala. The CWC misgendered the child in their advertisement, allegedly deliberately, to throw Anupama and Ajith off the track.
An internal enquiry headed by TV Anupama, then director of the Women and Child Development Department, had found that there were lapses on the part of the CWC as well as KSCCW. The report found that the CWC had filed an affidavit in the family court, a procedure to complete the adoption, on August 16, 2021, five days after Anupama approached KSCCW asking for the baby. Sunanda and Shiju Khan were accused of moving ahead with adoption procedures knowing that the baby’s parents were in search of him.