Under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, parents who cannot care for their newborns can legally surrender them to any authorised adoption agency or Child Welfare Committee (CWC) office.

In recent months, Mumbai has witnessed a disturbing rise in cases of newborns being found abandoned in various parts of the city — from railway station areas to secluded lanes and public toilets. These incidents raise serious social and moral questions about the safety net for vulnerable infants and the desperation that drives some parents to such extreme actions.

Between late September and October, four such incidents were reported across the city.

On October 27, a newborn baby girl was found in a nullah at Ashokvan, Borivali East, and was immediately rescued and taken to Shatabdi Hospital, Kandivali West. The investigation revealed that the child’s parents the mother, a domestic help, and the father, a daily wage labourer had abandoned the baby due to financial distress. The couple already had three daughters and had given birth to a fourth girl.

On October 20, a newborn girl with ant bites was discovered behind Anthony Tower in Malad West. She was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital, and police registered a case against an unidentified person.

The couple, who had lovingly raised Prabhat since childhood, are now battling for their lives in the hospital.

In a heart-wrenching incident, a retired couple in Assam’s Marikalang, Nagaon, faced a horrific betrayal at the hands of their own adopted son. 

Harendranath Bora and his wife, Dipti Bora, both retired from the Education Department, were brutally attacked and robbed by their adopted son, Prabhat Hazarika. 

The couple, who had lovingly raised Prabhat since childhood, are now battling for their lives in the hospital. 

As per reports, Prabhat, who had been living in Karbi Anglong, recently sought Rs 50,000 from his parents for his ailing wife’s treatment. 

INTERVIEW

Rani T'Kindt was adopted and has to arrange her biological father's funeral in India: “How is this possible?”

Rani T'Kindt was adopted from India as a toddler by Belgian parents. This week, she was contacted by Indian authorities, who asked her to arrange her biological father's funeral. "How did they end up with me?"

Veerle Beel

November 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM

Current question

Current questionabout the uncertainties surrounding international adoption

95 (2025-2026)

from Freya Perdaens to Minister Caroline Gennez

• View document sheet

Interpellation 2025/26:67 New crime classification and changed statute of limitations for illegal adoptions

by Lorena Delgado Varas (-)

to Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M)

In recent decades, serious shortcomings have been revealed in connection with Sweden's international adoptions. The state's own adoption investigation shows that thousands of children were illegally adopted to Sweden through processes that involved document forgery, bribery, corruption, lack of consent and, in some cases, clear traces of human trafficking.

A disturbing case from Collem-Loliem, Canacona, has shocked South Goa after villagers lodged a complaint at the Canacona Police Station against a woman accused of illegally adopting and brutally assaulting a 4-year-old boy. The child, reportedly adopted without any legal procedure, was found with severe facial injuries, including deep cuts on the forehead and cheek. He was immediately rushed to Goa Medical College in Bambolim, where he is undergoing multiple surgeries. The incident has raised serious questions about child protection and adoption monitoring in the region. Villagers have also alleged a possible child trafficking link involving an agent from Karnataka, suspected of selling infants for lakhs of rupees. Police have begun an investigation into both the assault and the alleged trafficking network.

Amsterdam: Are they finally going to happen, the Dutch state's apology to the mothers who gave up their children for adoption after the introduction of the Adoption Act in 1956? Will there also be an apology to the children they lost? The foundations that represent the interests of the mothers who gave up their children for adoption and those who gave them up for adoption have been invited by Arno Rutte, State Secretary for Justice and Security, to participate in discussions on the question: what form should this recognition take?

"This is a breakthrough," says Frans Haven, board member of the Verleden in Zicht (VIZ) foundation, which represents the interests of the 15,500 Dutch people who were relinquished and adopted after the introduction of the Adoption Act in 1956 and before the introduction of the Abortion Act in 1984. "We are very pleased with this step," says Ellen Venhuizen, chair of the De Nederlandse Afstandsmoeder (DNA) foundation.

To the great joy of Haven and Venhuizen, a date has finally been set: by March 31st of next year, the Dutch government will officially recognize the great suffering inflicted on birth mothers and adoptees. Haven, born in 1965, relinquished, and later adopted: "The Adoption Act has created victims. Adoptees feel detached their entire lives." Venhuizen, who gave birth to a daughter in 1974 whom she relinquished for adoption: "The social services at the time, the predecessor of Fiom, pushed for adoption. They said: 'You want to keep your child? How are you going to do that? There's nothing.'"

Child Protection Council

Venhuizen and Haven also mention the role of the Child Protection Council. "They ultimately made the decision. They followed a pattern that was in line with FIOM's policy," says Venhuizen. She believes the council didn't do its job properly. "The council didn't stand up for the many underage women who were pregnant unexpectedly. Until 1988, women were still minors until the age of 21. And there was hardly any supervision of how our children fared in the homes where they ended up immediately after birth and in the years that followed, in their adoptive families." Those children are now adults. The youngest are just past forty, the oldest are approaching seventy. VIZ prefers not to call them "adopted" but "relinquished."

Cuttack: She was a child when she left Basundhara orphanage here after being adopted by an American couple. Around 26 years later, Sudhanya Dunn returned to the place which sheltered her on Friday, to celebrate her first wedding anniversary, marking a moment filled with emotion and nostalgia.
Sudhanya was aged 10 months when she was left at the orphanage in 1994. In 1999, she was adopted by Hollie McGillicuddy and Jeff Dunn of USA, giving her a new life abroad. She later became a nurse and married Indian-origin professional Harsh Dua on Oct 27, 2024.
 

This week, she returned to the orphanage accompanied by six family members — including her adoptive parents and in-laws — to celebrate her wedding anniversary. Joy, nostalgia and heartfelt moments abounded as the Basundhara family welcomed her like a long-lost daughter.
The orphanage had arranged an array of cultural programmes, musical performances and interactive sessions to mark the occasion. Children presented handmade cards and performed traditional dances, creating a festive yet deeply personal atmosphere.

Sudhanya, visibly emotional, expressed her gratitude. “It feels surreal and overwhelming. This is the place that gave me a beginning. To return on such a special day is beyond words,” she said, her voice breaking as she hugged the children and staff.
Shaila Behera, founder-member of Basundhara, said the reunion was equally special for them. “Sudhanya was overwhelmed to witness the celebration on her arrival. She was in tears witnessing such a grand welcome and anniversary arrangements. For us, seeing her return as a confident, accomplished woman fills our hearts with pride,” Behera said. “I recognised her as she was brought here when she was just 10 months old. It’s an incredible journey and the joy can’t be expressed in words,” added Behera.

Dignitaries, including doctors, child welfare committee members and the district child protection officer, attended the celebration and blessed the couple. Many called it a “circle of love” moment — where a child once nurtured returned as a successful woman to celebrate love, gratitude and belonging. For the children at Basundhara, the day was more than a celebration — it was a message of hope and possibility.

The rescued infants have been handed over to Shishu Gruha, and all arrested individuals were sent to judicial remand, while police are on the lookout for the absconding parents.

NALGONDA: Nalgonda District Superintendent of Police Sharath Chandra Pawar on Wednesday announced the arrest of seven people, including a doctor, in connection with the illegal adoption of a 10-day-old girl and a 21-day-old boy in two separate cases.

Addressing a press conference, the SP said police seized Rs 20,000 in cash, seven mobile phones, and an adoption agreement from the accused. The operation was conducted following complaints filed by ICDS Supervisor Saraswathi on October 27, leading to two cases being registered.

Three police teams traced the families who sold and bought the babies, along with intermediaries — including Dr Matta Shanthi Priya, who allegedly brokered the deals.

In the first case, Kurra Babu, a mutton shop worker, decided to give away his newborn daughter after his wife delivered a baby girl. He contacted Dr Shanthi Priya, who facilitated the illegal adoption to Kadali Samba Murthy and his wife for Rs 2.3 lakh. Police arrested the doctor, who later confessed to mediating between the couple and Kurra Babu after learning of his willingness to sell the baby.

"I didn't do anything wrong," she maintains to this day. But according to the presiding judge in Mons, there's ample evidence that Michèle H., now 82, from Tournai, kidnapped at least 14 children from Guatemala and trafficked them to unsuspecting adoptive families in Belgium. "It turns out my biological mother isn't my mother, but the mother of another kidnapped adopted child who now lives in Belgium. But who am I then?" asks Eva Langenus (41).

Bjorn Maeckelbergh

October 30, 2025, 10:00 AM Last update: 10:12 AM

I currently don't know where I was born, nor when. Actually, I know nothing. Except that black-and-white photo of the woman in my file is definitely fake. (hesitantly) I've cherished that image for years. But she's not my mother.