A one-year-old child, who was allegedly given up for adoption without his parents’ consent, will be brought back to Kerala in five days. According to reports, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) issued an order to this effect, and asked Kerala State Council for Child Welfare to bring the baby back from foster care in Andhra Pradesh within five days. A special juvenile police unit will reportedly escort the baby back, according to The Hindu.
Once the baby is brought back, it will be put under the care of a person as prescribed under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and a DNA test will be done to confirm the biological parents.
Anupama alleged that her four-day-old baby boy was taken away and abandoned by her parents without her consent and knowledge. She and her partner Ajith had approached CWC authorities in April regarding the matter. Before and after this, the couple reached out to several leaders in the CPI(M) party for help as Anupama's father Jayachandran is a CPI(M) leader. However, the couple did not get any help from the party.
Anupama has also levelled allegations also against the police and the child welfare committee of having conspired together to take away her son. Anupama has alleged that though she had complained to the police several times since April about what her parents did, they were reluctant to register a case against the family members.
Anupama and her partner, Ajith, have been protesting and calling for the removal of N Sunanda, the chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee and General Secretary of the Child Welfare Council Shiju Khan JS till the time the investigation into the adoption procedure of their baby is completed.
The Peroorkkada police said a case was registered against six people, including her parents, sister and husband, and father's two friends. Late last month, a family court stayed the adoption process of her child and directed the police to submit a detailed report in a sealed cover. The family court had also asked the government to clarify whether the child was abandoned or given for adoption. This will come up for hearing on November 20.
With inputs from agencies