On October 19, 2020, Anupama gave birth to a baby boy. Anupama and her partner Ajith weren’t married at that time and Anupama and Ajith’s relationship was not acceptable to Anupama’s parents and because that, the child was given up for adoption by her parents without her consent.
Anupama stated that her parents misled her by saying that they would accept her relationship with Ajith once Anupama’s sister’s wedding was over. Having said that, they took her child without her consent and abandoned the baby.
After a year of struggle and obstacles, a ray of hope and the result of all the deeds done to get their baby has come one step forward. A genetic identification test or DNA test was performed to confirm if the couple is the biological parent of the kid and what came as major relief and victory is that the test has proven that they are the biological parents of the child given up for adoption to a couple in Andhra Pradesh.
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The test was conducted at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram after being ordered by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). Anupama and Ajith gave their samples for the test on November 22.
In an interview, Anupama detailed, “I’m extremely happy about it and hope I will get him soon. Until my demands are met, I will continue my strike. There should also be a proper inquiry against all who were behind this.”
Anupama confirmed that her parents abducted her baby soon after his birth and gave him up for adoption through Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) about a year ago. The family court stayed the adoption after Anupama’s petition. The child was brought back to Kerala after the Child Welfare Committee’s instruction.
A wave of political controversy was triggered in the state after Anupama alleged her father, who is a local CPI (M) leader. The Peroorkkada police have said that a case has been registered against six people- Anupama’s sister, sister’s husband, two of her father’s friends, and Anupama’s parents. The government has also announced a departmental probe into the incident.
As no development was seen in the probe, Anupama initiated a sit-in protest in front of the KSCCW office for not taking appropriate actions against the officials of the council. She also blamed the Child Welfare Committee for taking their child “illegally”. The CWC issued an order directing the KSCCW to bring the child back from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala. Amid tight security, the four-membered team brought the child back on Sunday, late in the night.
The couple was not only exploited by their parents but the entire system. Both the child welfare committees, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Sishu Kshema Samiti (Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, KSCCW) not only muddied the case but did everything to jeopardize the future of the baby.
On October 23, 2020, CWC published news in the media that a girl child was received, and later it was found out it wasn’t a baby girl but a baby boy. Advocate Sunanda the chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee agreed that it was a mistake on their part.
Anupama alleged that his father being in power in the area had already informed KSCCW that he will bring the child and to cover the entire incident up the baby was registered as a girl. Also, the details of the adoptee’s parents were disclosed, which left them with nothing but a lot of mental stress and trauma. The adoption process in India is kept confidential, but here all the rights were violated at every single step.
The CWC issued a Legally Free for Adoption certificate for the child back in February 2021. Now for the couple to get their child back, the CWC has to cancel the LFA and pass an order to declare the baby to be handed to the parents.
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