THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Anupama Chandran, who fought several legal battles to regain custody of her child after the State Child Welfare Council allegedly facilitated the adoption, has come out against Shiju Khan, the then general secretary of the council attending Sahitya Academy's international literary festival.
Shiju Khan has been invited by the academy to preside over a panel discussion on children, on August 20.
In a public video message, Anupama said that by including people like Shiju Khan, who remains an accused in the child trafficking case, the government has been encouraging them.
“Shiju Khan has no right to talk about children. Even when our child was with the State Council for Child Welfare, he declined to reveal the truth. After the child was adopted, he purposefully delayed information about the child's whereabouts. He did this as instructed by CPM leaders,” she said.
Anupama also alleged that when she questioned Shiju Khan being invited to the festival, an official said such allegations are normal for a political worker.
“The official also said that though there was an issue about adoption it was resolved later,” she added.
In 2021 Shiju Khan was accused of severe violation of trust as the general secretary of Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, in the controversial instance.
Meanwhile, DYFI state secretariat dismissed the accusations against Shiju Khan, terming them baseless.
"There is no legal base for the said accusations. These issues were raised earlier too. Explanation has been given about these issues. This is false propaganda," said a statement issued by DYFI.