CHENNAI: A day after a school teacher was arrested on charges of raping a class 12 girl, the child's parents, who adopted her as a two-year old, has disowned her.
The girl's adopted parents had on Monday brought the 17-year old to the local police station and told police officers that they no longer want to keep the child. Taken aback by this, the police officers alerted the Child Welfare Committee officials who unsuccessfully tried to convince the parents, who had adopted the girl since they were childless. The girl is now made to stay in a children's home.
Police and child welfare officials told Express that the parents felt the girl has brought "dishonour" to the family because they believe she was sexually active. "When she was in Class 10, a teacher had said she spotted the girl kissing a boy and the child's parents were summoned to the school. The parents said they are ashamed of her actions and hence do not want her in the family," said a police officer who handled the case.
On Sunday, the parents and neighbours handed over to police a 26-year-old man, who was working as a physical eduction teacher in the private school where the girl is studying in class 12. According to the parents' complaint, they spotted the accused half naked in a toilet in the first floor portion of their house. The girl was also present in the first floor portion of the house. The police on Sunday booked the man on charges of raping the child and he was remanded in judicial custody.
However, on Monday the parents brought the girl to the police station and told them that the girl was an adopted child and they no longer to keep her. The parents had told the police officers that they believe their daughter to have had consensual relationship with her teacher and it was her who invited him to the their house. As the parents remained adamant, the child welfare officials took the girl to a children's home and made her stay there.
After much counselling and explanations that they cannot disown their adopted daughter and its illegal, the parents had on Tuesday evening conveyed that they are ready to take back the child. “Now the girl is
adamant that she does not want to go back to the parents. For the time being we have kept her in the home. Our first priority is her Class 12 board exam,” said a child welfare official. The board exams are only about five months away.
Speaking to Express, Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, a well-known psychiatrist said, “The usual question of every adopted child is why did their (biological) parents leave them? The sense of rejection stays with them for a long time and whenever the adopted parents mention that they were adopted, either in anger or to intentionally hurt the child, the children do not feel safe in the house. This creates loneliness within them and they start searching for love outside the house.”
She said the child could have decided to become rebellious only because her family was conservative and the parents also should be taken for a counselling before jumping to any conclusions. “When a person in a position of responsibility like a teacher or a relative take advantage of the child, they lose the trust factor in people. While the parents claim that the girl was in several other relationships, there is a space for questioning whether the parents were not compassionate to the girl,” said Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar. She said that one of the solutions can be to admit the child to a comfortable hostel and allow her focus on her studies.
Talking about the legal issues involved, Dr P Manorama, former chairman of Chennai's Child Welfare Committe, said, adopted parents can never disown the child just because the child does not match their
expectations. “Cases like these should be enquired by the probationary officer. The officer is entitled to conduct an investigation with the neighbours, classmates, teachers, colleagues of the parents and child as well. After the enquiry, the pros and cons of the child staying with the parents should be weighed and only then a decision can be taken (on whether the child should be allowed to stay with the adopted parents),” she said.
Remembering a similar case, Manorama said that a few years ago, a class 9 girl did not want to live with her adopted parents. “The girl was tortured because she was academically not performing like her relatives. The girl stayed in a children home for a few weeks and later the parents and the girl got convinced. They girl again started living with her adopted parents. However, in this case, the Class 12 board exam of the girl should be given priority and the hearings should proceed accordingly,” she said. The girl can take an independent decision on living with her adopted parents once she turns 18.