Thiruvananthapuram: Former SFI leader Anupama S Chandran might get back her child from the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) within two days' time. The KSCCW authorities have assured that they will speed up the proceedings and hand over the child to her in two days.
The Women & Child Development Department, and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) will hand over the DNA test results to the family court on Wednesday. The CWC will also submit an affidavit showing the annulment of the Free for Adoption certificate issued to the Andhra couple.
According to legal circles, the KSCCW, which has judicial powers, is empowered to hand over the child to the real mother without even waiting for the nod of the court, especially when the DNA results have unequivocally established that Anupama is his mother.
KSCCW has reportedly sought legal opinion on the matter.
Anupama, Ajith meet their child
"I had only a vague memory of my boy from his birth. I had feared the worst - the prospect of not meeting my child ever again. I couldn't hold back my tears when I met him after a year. I have a photo of his from the time of his birth. He looks pretty much the same. Everyone is saying so," Anupama said while responding to media queries.
"A nanny was carrying him when we visited Nirmala Shishu Bhavan. He was a little annoyed as he was sleepy. He looked well. The employees at Shishu Bhavan said he is a well-behaved child and that he easily adjusts with new people and surroundings," she said.
Ajith was seeing their son for the first time, Anupama added.
"He stayed in my arms without crying for a while when I fiddled with his favourite toy. But he began crying soon after searching for a familiar shoulder to sleep on," the happy mother said.
The couple left the centre only after the baby had gone back to sleep.
Court hearing on November 30
Since KSCCW began the proceedings earlier to give the child for adoption to a teacher couple from Andhra Pradesh, it has to first annul that order. After doing so, a fresh order has to be issued, permitting handing over of the child to the real parents, Anupama and Ajith.
The KSCCW had earlier asked the family court to grant time till November 29 for filing a reply in the case. The case would come up for hearing on November 30. In the wake of new developments, attempts are also being made to put up the case urgently in the court.
Meanwhile, Health and Social Justice Minister Veena George has informed that the State Government has requested the Central Adoption Resources Authority (CARA) to give preference to the teacher couple from Andhra Pradesh over other candidates when they put forward an adoption request next time.
According to the minister, the State Government has intervened in the matter to ensure that the couple from Andhra Pradesh, who returned the child of Anupama to the KCCW without a whimper of protest, should not lose seniority when they apply for fresh adoption process.
A DNA test result had confirmed on Tuesday that Anupama and her partner Ajith are the biological parents of the baby boy given up for adoption to the Andhra Pradesh-based couple.
On November 18, the CWC had issued an order directing the KSCCW to bring the child back to Kerala. A team, led by KSCCW officials and comprising an escort of a Special Juvenile Police unit, received the child from the foster parents in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday and brought him back to Kerala. The team returned to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday night.
Thereafter, the child has been handed over to a child care institution as directed by the CWC.
Anupama, 24, and her partner Ajith have been on a protest in front of the KSCCW office at Thycaud demanding their baby back.
