Kochi: A baby which is at the centre of a fake birth certificate row that in turn exposed an illegal adoption bid has been shifted to a shelter home of the Child Welfare Committee.
The Committee will initiate the formal adoption process if the infant's biological parents fail to appear before it.
Meanwhile, the police filed forgery and fraud cases over the bogus birth certificate issued in the name of the newborn.
The cases have been filed against A A Anil Kumar, who is an administrative assistant at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital, and AN Rahana, a temporary employee of the Kalamassery Municipality. The latter has been relieved of her duties after a probe by the Medical College Principal found that she had issued the certificate without examining the bonafides of the application for it.
The alleged fake birth certificate states that the baby was born at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital on January 31, 2023. Anil Kumar, who is now accused of forging the certificate, had acquired the fake document on February 1.
Rahana was in-charge of the kiosk at the birth/death registration department of the Kalamassery Municipality. Her complaint eventually resulted in the unravelling of the forgery and arrest of Anil Kumar. She had allegedly found certain discrepancies in the birth report and enquired with the labour room nurses, who declared that they had no record of a childbirth to a couple named Anoop Kumar and Sunitha as stated in the application form submitted by Anil Kumar.
The subsequent arrest and probe revealed that the baby had been illegally adopted.
Meanwhile, the identity of the biological parents of the infant remains unclear though Manorama News reports that they are natives of Ernakulam district. The Thripunithura couple who was behind the adoption bid of the baby using fake documents has gone missing with the latter.