THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A departmental inquiry has found lapses on the part of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) in the adoption procedures of Anupama’s baby. The Women and Child Welfare Department’s report points fingers at CWC chairperson N Sunanda and general secretary of KSCCW Shiju Khan for the roles they played in the controversy.
The report found that the two organisations headed by these two officials deliberately went ahead with the adoption procedures even when they were aware of the complaints lodged by Anupama. The findings affirm allegations raised by the biological mother, Anupama S Chandran, that there were concerted efforts to sabotage her claim over the child.
The director of Women and Child Welfare Department, T V Anupama, submitted the report to Minister Veena George and the Family Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. The minister who defended the adoption proceedings said suitable action would be taken based on the report.
As per the report, the CWC should have brought back the child who was given for foster care to a couple from Andhra Pradesh, and conducted a DNA test to check the veracity of the claim made by Anupama. Instead, the CWC filed an affidavit in the family court as part of the procedure to complete the adoption procedure. The report found documents to prove that the affidavit was filed on August 16, five days after Anupama approached KSCCW with her claim.
The adoption committee approved the adoption on August 6. The report found evidence that the CWC failed to stop the adoption despite holding a sitting with Anupama on April 22. It also failed to report on her claim to the police. The report also found that the KSCCW records showing the days when the parents held meetings with Shiju Khan have been tampered with. Anupama and her partner B Ajith Kumar alleged that the latter met Shiju Khan after seeing a newspaper advertisement on adoption. The advertisement is part of the adoption rule which is meant to send alerts to biological parents.
Meanwhile, Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairman K V Manoj Kumar said the commission will inquire into not only lapses in adoption procedures but also the situation that led to the abandoning of the child. He issued a show-cause notice to CWC chairperson Sunanda for not appearing for the sitting in the case and directed her to be present for the next hearing on December 1.
The Additional District and Sessions Court on Wednesday closed the anticipatory bail application of P S Jayachandran, father of Anupama S Chandran, who was accused of forcefully taking his daughter’s newborn baby and giving it away for adoption.