With the arrest of 10 people in the alleged child trafficking racket operated from an adoption centre in Kolkata, police have invoked the rape charge, among others, in the case.

The case has kicked up a political row with the BJP alleging the involvement of a TMC leader and demanding a fair probe.

Police on Saturday arrested the accused — including the daughter-in-law of a former top civic official, and a senior government official — in the case.

The former civic official has been questioned.

Police said the government official is the main accused, while the woman had been running the adoption centre for the past five to six years.

Abig child trafficking racket was busted in Salkia, Howrah. The owner of the private child centre is the daughter-in-law of the former deputy mayor of Howrah municipality. Police have arrested 9 people including homeowner Gitashree Adhikari in this incident. At least 20 children have been rescued from the Salkia home centre. Howrah Police have also interrogated Minati Adhikari, former deputy mayor of Howrah.

According to police sources, a family adopted a 9-year-old girl from that adoption centre in Babudanga area of ??Salkia two and a half years ago. But a few days ago, the girl complained to her adoptive parents that she had been sexually abused inside the home centre. The couple then lodged a complaint with the Howrah Women’s Police Station. Police then started an investigation. Based on the allegations, a joint team of police, detectives and the Child Welfare Department raided the Child adoption Centre in the Mali Panchghara police station area on Friday night.

Allegedly, the number of children inside did not match with the documents in the home during the search. Allegedly, more children are being kept there at home, according to official records. After that, the police and government officials started interrogating Gitashree, the owner of the centre. That’s when she started talking incoherently. Investigators confirmed that children were being trafficked from home then the police arrested Gitashree, the owner of the Child Centre. After that, the police arrested eight more people one by one.

The locals also complained that people from abroad used to come there. Gitashree and her husband introduced themselves as their friends. The locals also claimed that there were parties also organized inside the centre. A local resident said no one was ever allowed inside the centre from outside. At least 20 children were rescued from the Centre and sent to a safe home.

Investigators estimate that many children were brought in and sold for millions. Not only that, but Gitashree also easily take out the birth certificates of the children required for adoption from Howrah Municipality. Because Gitashree’s mother-in-law was the deputy mayor of Howrah municipality. Police confirmed that the home staff was also aware of the child trafficking. There have even been allegations of sexual abuse of regular children inside the home centre. West Bengal Women and Child Welfare Minister Shashi Panja said that strict action would be taken against those accused.

The report "Racism, discrimination and belonging among foreign adoptees" shows that half of Norwegian foreign adoptees experience being discriminated against.

On 15 November, the research report "Racism, discrimination and belonging among foreign adoptees" was launched. The report from NIBR shows that half of Norwegian foreign adoptees have experienced differential treatment due to their appearance or adoptive background.

NIBR has examined foreign adoptees' experiences of racism and discrimination, how they understand and define this, and what strategies they use to deal with situations where they encounter racism, discrimination and discrimination. In addition, the study has explored how foreign adoptees experience their belonging to Norway, to their country of birth and to the family in Norway.

- Most of the people we have spoken to emphasize the need to tell as soon as possible that they have been adopted, so that people will understand that they are not immigrants. Not because they themselves have anything against immigrants, but because they know that this group is met with discriminatory attitudes, said researcher Tone Maia Liodden during the report launch.

The researchers behind the report are Mariann Stærkebye Leirvik, Vilde Hernes, Tone Maia Liodden and Kristian Rose Tronstad.

HAVERI: The number of children surrendered to a

government-recognised adoption centre in has

increased in the past 18 months.

The facility has taken in 28 such kids since Covid-19 broke

out. Loss of livelihood during the pandemic and parents not

In 1951, 22 Greenlandic children were taken from their families and sent to Denmark as part of a social experiment. Now they are suing the state.

A group of Greenlanders who as children were removed from their families by the Danish state in an attempt to create a Danish-speaking elite, will now sue the Danish state.

It writes Politiken .

In 1951, a total of 22 Greenlandic children aged four to nine were removed from their parents and sent to Denmark to learn Danish.

Since then, they have been placed in an orphanage in Nuuk with a ban on speaking their mother tongue.

CHENNAI: As part of the efforts to modernise the state

forensic department, chief minister on Saturday inaugurated

a new DNA profilebased search tool at the . The

new device will help trace abandoned , inter-state

criminals and child sexual predators among others.

Kolkata news: According to police sources, 20 children have been rescued from the adoption centre. Further investigation is underway to ascertain whether the NGO has links with other child-trafficking rackets.

Kolkata: In yet another shocking incident of child trafficking, the Kolkata Police arrested the daughter-in-law of former Howrah deputy mayor and nine others from West Bengal's Salkia for allegedly selling newborn babies. Reportedly, a child trafficking racket was functional from an adoption centre. 

Based on a complaint, the Howrah City Police raided 'Cradle Baby Centre' late on Friday night and arrested 10 individuals including a woman and a West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) official. As a result of the bust, the Howrah police rescued at least 20 children from the home run by the woman for the last five years. 

The incident came to light after a girl complained to her adoptive parents that she had been sexually abused at the home. According to the police sources, the family adopted a girl two and a half years ago from Cradle Baby Centre.

"We had received several complaints against this NGO, including allegations of selling babies in the guise of running the home and that there were incidents of molestation of the infants," said the police.

Howrah (West Bengal): The daughter-in-law of former Howrah deputy mayor Minati Adhikari and a state government official were among 10 people arrested from West Bengal's Salkia for allegedly selling newborn babies from an adoption centre, the police said on Saturday.

Acting on complaints, Howrah City Police Commissioner C Sudhakar led a raid on 'Cradle Baby Centre' late on Friday night and arrested 10 people, including the woman, who was running the adoption centre for the last five years, and the West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) official, a senior officer said.

Several babies were removed from the private home by police during the raid, he said.

"We had received several complaints against this NGO, including allegations of selling babies in the guise of running the home and that there were incidents of molestation of the infants," said the officer.

Thiruvananthapuram: A family court here on Saturday has denounced the Child Welfare Committee over the illegal adoption of Anupama Chandran’s baby. The court raised the criticism when the CWC sought more time to submit the final report over the case

The court observed that the committee didn’t submit the adoption license even after the court issued directions for the same. The affiliation license issued by the State Adoption Regulatory Authority was expired in 2016.

The CWC has not produced the renewed original license along with the affidavit before the court. Irked with this, the court denounced the CWC and issued strict direction to produce the original license.

Meanwhile, the CWC informed the family court here that the investigation into the baby kidnap case is in the final phase. The committee also requested the court to grant time till November 29 to submit the detailed report.

However, the family court expressed satisfaction over the case. The court also directed to avoid lapses in the case. The case will be considered again on November 30.

When educationist Geet Oberoi decided to adopt her first child, Indya, 14 years ago, procedural

delays were the first stumbling block. She was single and had to wait for three years before she

could adopt a child. In 2010, Priya Ramanathan, also single, ran into the same wall. She wanted

to adopt a seven-month-old baby, but was told that it would take more than two years as single

parents were not the preferred choice. Many agencies wouldn’t even accept applications from