A day after the government ordered a department-level probe into a woman’s complaint of forcible separation from her child and seeking its return, the State Adoption Resource Agency filed a petition in court on her demand and to apprise the court of the departmental probe under way.
Minister for Women and Child Development Veena George told mediapersons on Saturday that the adoption procedures of the child thought to belong to Anupama S. Chandran were in the final stages at the family court at Vanchiyoor.
Following legal advice, the department decided to intervene before the final order was passed by the court, and the situation became even more complicated for Anupama.
The Minister said the government pleader had been tasked with informing the court about the latest situation.
Ms. George reiterated that a report on all procedures, including the timeline, from the time the child had been received at the council was sought.
The Minister, who spoke to Anupama in the morning, said the probe had been ordered to ascertain if any lapses had occurred and prevent any repeats.
The child, she said, was in foster care with adoptive parents who had registered on the Central Adoption Resource Agency portal, and the adoption proceedings were court monitored. The case was rare and complicated, she admitted, adding that the government was doing what was needed for the child to be reunited with its mother.
Meanwhile, Anupama and her partner Ajith staged a hunger strike in front of the Secretariat in the morning seeking the return of her child and action against those who she alleged failed to act in time on her complaint.
Anupama expressed her happiness at the probe into her complaint and the support she was receiving, but also wished that she had received help when she had asked for it from various quarters, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
On the government decision to inform the court, Anupama said she was finally hopeful that she would get her child back.
Anupama had alleged that her father P.S. Jayachandran had taken away her newborn just days after she gave birth in October last year and abandoned in the Ammathottil cradle of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare.
The Kerala Women’s Commission will extend all legal support to Anupama if needed in the case, panel chairperson P. Satheedevi said in a statement.
