HC intervenes to help foster parents meet child after 6 months

Suresh Babu and Asha of Thrissur in Kerala were elated on Tuesday when they met their foster child after six months.

The child had been placed under the care of Bapuji Children’s Home at Gokulam in the city after the Mysuru district police took her into custody in November in connection with a child trafficking racket that was busted in Nanjangud.

The parents were able to meet the child after an interim order was passed by the Karnataka High Court on May 23. The couple, accompanied by advocate P P Baburaj, reached Bapuji Children’s Home by 11.40 am and furnished the HC order to manager Nanda Prasad seeking permission to meet the child for an hour in the presence of VV Puram police personnel.

“The six-and-a-half-year-old girl was under the care of the couple at Thrissur since she was a one-month-old baby. While she was studying first standard at Thrissur, the Mysuru district police took her into custody and produced her before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) last November in connection with a child trafficking case that was busted in Nanjangud. The couple had taken the child from Mysuru without following legal procedures of adoption. Similarly, 16 children were traced by the district police from various places of Kerala and Karnataka and 15 people were arrested for their involvement in the child trafficking case,” Baburaj said.

The CWC, after producing the children before the court, had sent them to three homes in Mysuru and Mandya including Bapuji Children’s Home for care and protection. Though Babu had filed an application before the CWC seeking foster care of their child under Section 44 of the Juvenile Justice Act, the CWC did not take any decision even after the mandatory period of four months.

Aggrieved by this, Babu approached the high court seeking visitation rights and custody. Considering the bond that had developed between the couple and the child, Justice B Veerappa issued an interim order granting permission for the foster parents to meet the child on May 30.

Bapuji Children’s Home trustee Mamatha Gupta, Sahana of Special Juvenile Police Unit and VV Puram constable Abhilasha were present during the meeting. CWC chairperson Sheela however, said that she has not received any order from the high court.