Thiruvananthapuram: Former Students' Federation of India (SFI) leader Anupama S Chandran began a hunger strike in front of the Secretariat here on Saturday, seeking her child back as she alleged that the newborn was taken away from her illegally.
Anupama's husband Ajith is also sitting on agitation.
She said that her fight was against those who were legally liable to do justice to a mother who lost the legitimate custody of her child.
Anupama had earlier accused her parents of forcefully taking away her newborn and handing him over to the child welfare agency for adoption. Her parents had been opposed to her relationship with Ajith, a divorcee and a former local leader of the CPM and its youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). She gave birth to the child last October when in a relationship with Ajith.
To a question on the CPM's decision to extend support to her cause, Anupama said that the party did not support her when she wanted it most. She said she didn't know how far the CPM would be able to help her now.
Before leaving for the Secretariat premises, Anupama told Manorama News that she had lost faith in the police and she was looking up to the government for some kind of help.
The CPM announced support for Anupama just hours before the beginning of her agitation. She said though she personally met CPM acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan and gave him a complaint, nothing worked out. Earlier, Vijayaraghavan had said that the party has nothing to do with the issue and Anupama should take legal recourse to get justice.
Brinda Karat backs Anupama
Meanwhile, CPM politburo member Brinda Karat said that Anupama has been denied justice in this case. "What has happened so far is inhuman. Steps should be taken to hand over the child to Anupama at the earliest," she said.
The police, however, sent a letter to the Central Adoption Resource Authority, seeking the details of Anupama's child. The police plea is to provide details of all the children registered at the centre from October 19 to 25 in 2020.