Kerala: Child Welfare Committees to report on child sale'

KOZHIKODE: Soon after the Kerala State Human Rights Commission seeking report from the district registrar on what grounds the adoption of a girl child was made in 2014 through a sub-registrar instead of a court of law, the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has also asked the Child Welfare Committees (CWC) and Child Protection Offices (DCPO) to submit comprehensive reports.

Child Rights Commission chairperson Shobha Koshy told this newspaper that the mystery behind the alleged ‘sale deed’ the biological mother and the foster mother has created, the claiming of the girl child by the biological mother from the orphanage in Kozhikode and her subsequent surrendering of the child before Wayanad CWC, should be probed. Kozhikode CWC chairperson advocate Sreela Menon said that they handed over the girl to her ‘biological’ mother after the latter produced a birth certificate and informed that the baby was born out of rape after a man abducted her.

“The father is the same man against whom a ‘woman missing’ case was filed. Apart from that, the woman looked exactly like the girl, that we did not have room for any doubts,” said the CWC chief. She added that DNA tests would be conducted in doubtful cases. However, Ms Koshy rubbished the argument of the CWC that the prime reason for handing over the child was that the mother 'exactly' resembled the kid.

A perusal of the documents regarding the sale of the girl, now aged 8, in possession of this newspaper, prove that a sale deed had taken place instead of adoption. Moreover, the adopted parent has been named ‘buyer’. Adding to the confusion the birth certificate has one set of parents and the school leaving certificate has another, ascertaining the covert efforts to manipulate documents to make the illegal adoption legal.