KOZHIKODE: The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Wayanad flouted rules while accepting the child of the Plus-One student who was raped by Fr Robin Vadakkumchery of Kottiyoor. The girl hailing from Kannur had surrendered the infant to the Wayanad CWC. According to Juvenile Justice Act (JJ) of 2015, a woman CWC member alone can accept the baby of an unwed mother. The deed has to be ratified in the next CWC sitting which was not done in this case. As per the surrender deed furnished by the girl before the CWC, she was 18 years old and had given birth out of an illegal affair on February 7.
“I am surrendering the new-born to the Holy Infant Foundling Home, Vythiri, as I cannot bring up the kid due to social circumstances,” the deed says. CWC member Dr Betty Jose had signed on the deed after accepting the child and handed it over to the foundling home on February 20. But the same was not ratified in the next CWC sitting. Further, there was no cross-checking to verify the false claim of the girl that she was 18 years old and whether she was the biological mother of the kid.
“That could be verified as 60 days are allowed for doing it as per the Act,” Wayanad CWC chairman Fr Thomas Joseph Perakom told this newspaper. But he didn’t respond to the non-ratification of the decision. The CWC chairman of another district told DC that cases of unwed mothers should be checked to verify the rape angle and the police should be informed. “In this case, the girl hails from another district. So an inquiry with the CWC of that district should be made before accepting the child,” he said requesting anonymity. The Wayanad CWC did not contact the Kannur CWC in the matter, says Kannur CWC chairman T.A Mathew. Social justice department director T.V. Anupama told DC that she had asked the Wayanad district child protection officer to submit a report in the matter.
