Maharashtra: Fate of 6 children rescued from inter-state child selling racket in limbo
Among the submissions made before the court were photographs of their children. The sessions court, while granting bail, stated that the photographs show that they had “no malafide intention of trafficking the children”, and that their intention was to adopt them.
WEEKS AFTER they were rescued by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch in an alleged interstate child-selling racket, six children between the ages of 18 months to seven years face an uncertain future, with officers saying they can neither be allowed to go back to the care of their biological parents who allegedly sold them nor returned to those who allegedly purchased them.
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Since July, the six children have been put up at Bal Anand, a specialised adoption agency at Chembur as per the orders of the Mumbai Children Welfare Committee (CWC). The authorities have not ruled out giving them for adoption. But what is complicating the decision is that those who allegedly bought the children were treating them well and bringing them up like their own.
In some cases, the children had spent years with their new “parents”. The oldest child, a seven-year-old boy, had been living with the family from whom he was rescued for more than three years. While the police are yet to decide whether to name the biological parents as accused, some “adoptive” parents, who were arrested and released on bail, have approached the CWC for custody of their children, even temporarily, till a decision is taken on their fate.
“I had enrolled my child in one of the most prestigious playschool chains. He was in the middle of a vaccination cycle. When he was taken away from us, we were not even asked whether he has any medical needs or allergies. We were arrested and released on bail… we will be punished as per law. But right now, the children are suffering as their normal lives have been disrupted,” said a parent.
“We are seeking their custody even if temporarily, as fit persons or foster parents under the Juvenile Justice Act, to ensure that they are not traumatised.” The Act prescribes that any decision taken for a child should be in his best interest with custodial care being the last resort.
The application of the “adoptive” parents is yet to be decided as the chargesheet in the case is still to be filed. The investigating officer, Inspector Aparna Joshi, said that it is likely to be filed next month. The biological parents of one child is yet to be traced. A CWC member said that pending investigation, the children cannot be handed over to the “adoptive” or biological parents as it is not a legal adoption and there is prima facie proof of a financial transaction between the two.
The Crime Branch Unit VI made the first arrest in the case in June while declaring that it had unravelled an interstate child-selling racket. The children sold were all sons of poor parents residing in Deonar, Govandi, Kalwa and Kalyan. The police have claimed to have found a nexus of women, including former surrogate mothers, hospital staff and former employees of an IVF centre.
Children were sold for anywhere between Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh and a part of it — around Rs 1 lakh — went to the biological parents. The parents were lured on the promise of a better life for the children and told that they could meet them whenever they wanted to. Two children were sold to two sets of parents in Delhi. Some of the children were handed over to the “adoptive” parents within days of being born. While the police have made 14 arrests in the case, the main accused, Pawan Sharma, is still absconding.
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While seeking bail, two of the “adoptive” parents from Delhi, through their lawyer Sadanand Shetty, had claimed before the court that they had not purchased the children but were made to believe that the formalities on their behalf were being done by coordinators, whom they had paid.
Among the submissions made before the court were photographs of their children. The sessions court, while granting bail, stated that the photographs show that they had “no malafide intention of trafficking the children”, and that their intention was to adopt them.
The CWC member said that it would, however, set a bad precedent for the custody to be given to the “adoptive” parents without the legal formalities being completed. “The children cannot be made to suffer for the crimes they have not committed. But we will have to take a decision according to law.”
The accused included Amar Desai, a Bhiwandi-based aggregate cab driver, whose wife was under pressure from his family to have a male child after she delivered two girls. Earlier this year, when his wife delivered a girl again, a stressed Desai was approached by one of the accused women working at the hospital. She told Desai that she could arrange for a male child and they struck a deal for Rs 3.84 lakh. Later, when the police went to take custody of the child from Kolhapur, the family already had held a name-keeping ceremony.
At Bal Anand, an office-bearer said that while the biological parents of one of the six children had approached them for access to their son, they cannot permit it without permission from the CWC. “Initially, two of the six children, who are toddlers, cried a lot. We have nearly 35 children here and play facilities have helped ease them into their stay here. Now, they seem to be doing fine.”