KOCHI: Things seem to be looking up for the Punjabi girl who faced abandonment by her adoptive parents in Kerala. The elderly couple had moved the court to annul the adoption of the 18-year-old, who is now dreaming of a career in fashion design. Following intervention by the Kerala High Court, the state government has facilitated her admission to the fashion design course at Thiruvananthapuram Government Polytechnic. She will also join a Hindi language course offered by Hindi Prachar Sabha to explore opportunities in her home state.
The couple from Thiruvananthapuram had adopted her as a 12-year-old, on an order issued by the Guardian Judge, Ludhiana, Punjab in 2018. They sought to repeal the adoption on the basis that she was unable to integrate herself into the family. According to the couple, they tried their best to rehabilitate and assimilate the child into the family, but to no avail.
They had adopted her in a difficult phase in their life when they had lost their only son in a car accident on January 14, 2017. TNIE broke the news of the couple approaching the HC to void the adoption last November. The court expressed hope that “there will be a change in the perception and attitude of the parents in time, because, after all, as they say, time is the greatest healer. Perhaps, reconciliation between them and the child could then be a possibility.”
When the petition filed by the couple came up for hearing, amicus curiae Parvathi Menon submitted that the girl had been shifted to Sree Chitra Home, an institution under the state government more suited for adults and that arrangements had been made for her to attend a fashion design course at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Polytechnic. She added that if the girl wants Hindi as the medium of education, then it can also be decided – depending upon the progress that she makes as of now – to shift her to one of the courses to be offered by the Hindi Prachar Sabha.
The amicus curiae also said that she is trying to obtain support from the government of Punjab and Haryana through the advocate general there, as also the Legal Service Authority, to alternatively explore whether the girl can be accommodated in her home state if that is what she wants in due course. That can be done only with the assistance of Jayachithra S, superintendent of Sudharma Home, where the girl resided before being moved to Sree Chitra Home, and Shaniba Begum, chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Thiruvananthapuram, the amicus curiae added.
Justice Devan Ramachandran appreciated the efforts taken by the amicus curiae and said, “The court certainly commends the efforts taken by Parvathi Menon because the girl will now have the prospects of wanting to spend time with friends and seeing the world are different from what she experienced in the home she was in.”