Decks have been cleared for the Kerala-based foster mother Rama* to legalise the adoption of her two-year-old daughter. The ‘illegal’ adoption came under scanner last week with Rama facing the threat of losing her daughter, in the wake of illegal transfer of babies from biological mothers to childless couples, here in Anjetti in Denkanikottai block. However, the Child Welfare Committee, taking a humanitarian view, passed orders on Wednesday for legalising the adoption of this child.
Speaking to The Hindu , L. Vincent Sundararaj, Chairperson of the district Child Welfare Committee and Judicial Magistrate (JJ Act), said the decision has been taken on verification of all documents including, the immunisation certificate of the child. “This is a special case, and the CWC shall at no stage sanction illegal adoptions,” Mr. Sundararaj stressed.
For Rama, the foster mother, the CWC’s decision was the best gift of her life.
In the other two cases of 15-day babies that were given away for ‘adoption’ through the local village health nurse, the mothers had eventually admitted to having taken money. The babies currently under the care of the temporary shelter, pending the legal process, are likely to be put out for adoption.
On the other hand, with the police already arresting and remanding the village health Nurse of Anjetti, Alphonsa and Johnson, a middleman, under Section 370 (1) of the IPC, no further arrests are expected by the police. No other persons have been cited as accused.
No cradle centre Incidentally, the absence of government cradle centre here has also been highlighted in the light of the illegal adoptions in Denkanikottai. The district does not have a designated cradle baby centre unlike the centre in Dharmapuri district hospital, and abandonment of babies is a recurrent feature. “It would be helpful, if there were such cradles set up in PHC in Denkanikottai, in Hosur and in Krishnagiri,” said an official source.
(* name changed )
