KOCHI: Anupama S Chandran, former SFI leader and daughter of a CPM local leader, whose baby had been put up for adoption by her parents last year without her knowledge, on Monday moved a petition in Kerala High Court to get back her child.
In the habeas corpus petition, Anupama sought the High Court to issue a directive to the police to produce before the court the child, whose whereabouts are not known to her for the last 12 months.
She submitted that she gave birth to a baby boy on October 19, 2020. The four days-old child was taken away and abandoned by her parents, who were in immediate custody of the child, without the consent and knowledge of the petitioner, she said. Anupama also alleged that the police, the child welfare committee and her parents with a common intention had aided, abetted and conspired to isolate her four-day-old child from its biological mother and denied it all the basic human rights of an infant.
She is approaching various authorities including CWC to get back her child since April. The police registered a case only on October 18, 2021. When all the doors kept closed before her, she went out to media and sought the help the fourth pillar of democracy to get back her child which was illegally detained by all legal and government institutions, the petition said.
Despite the fact that the kidnapping case of the infant is under investigation and the adoption process being stayed by the court, the Minister for Women and Child Development stated in the Legislature Assembly that the controversial adoption of the child is according to law and not illegal. The petitioner was afraid that the statement made by the Minister will likely influence the investigation and pending litigation before the Family Court.
Anupama pointed out that her parents forcefully isolated the child from her on the pretext of Covid19. Then they abandoned the child without the consent and knowledge of the petitioner by placing the child in “Amma Thottil” run by Kerala State Council for Child Welfare. The baby child’s sex was wrongly
entered as a female child in the hospital register by the council for child welfare. The council has not complied with the provision of the Juvenile Justice Act regarding the surrender of an abandoned child. The Peroorkada station house officer was also involved in the conspiracy with others to hide all the details of the baby child thereby preventing all the possibilities of the petitioner to find out the child. The parents of Anupama and others conspired together to make the baby child, orphan and an abandoned one thereby denying it’s all human rights which is so inhuman and culpable. "This amounts to institutional criminality. The statutory institutions, a government organization and persons with fiduciary relationships (grandfather and grandmother) who are bound to protect and care for an infant conspired together to separate and isolate the infant from its biological mother thereby denied the basic human rights guaranteed under Article 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution" stated the petition.
Anupama submitted that her parents are highly influential political leaders and they didn't recognise the love affair with Ajithkumar, the father of the child. After knowing about her pregnancy, the parents had compelled to abort this child with help of a family friend, a gynaecologist. The petitioner resisted the same and the abortion attempt failed. Thereafter she was taken to Ernadu hospital in Malappuram. Again, an attempt at abortion was made and she resisted strongly. After the second attempt of abortion in the eighth month, the police officials of Manjeri Police station came to the hospital and the matter was settled on the terms that the petitioner shall not reveal the birth of the child till the marriage of her elder sister. The parents compelled her not to reveal the birth of the child because it will affect the dignity and honour of the family, stated in the petition.