CID told to find babies' moms

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has asked the CID to trace the mothers of babies rescued after the child trafficking racket was busted earlier this month to secure a more assured future for them.Speaking to TOI, WBCPCR chairperson Ananya Chatterjee said it was urgent for investigators to find the mothers so that the Child Welfare Committee

“The babies that have been rescued are all less than a year old. Since the kingpins of the racket have already been arrested, interrogation should lead to the mothers. That is crucial to first find out if the mother had abandoned the child or she was tricked into believing the child had died during delivery . If she is an unwed mother and does not wish to take the baby , she has to formally surrender the baby . On ly then can CWC go ahead with the adoption procedure,“ said Chatterjee.

The CID said it had already begun work to trace the biological parents, beginning with a case that dates back to 2014 in which a woman had been handed the dead body of a child that appeared much older than a newborn. The woman has now approached the CID and expressed her suspicion that a two-year-old baby that Ujjala Byapari, an employee of the Machlandapur NGO under scanner, claims to have adopted is her son. The birth certificate produced by Byapari has already turned out to be fake. CID has also been approached by another woman who believes her baby was trafficked while she was told that it was stillborn.

With the kids having already passed through hell, Chatterjee felt it was in the child ren's interest that cops traced the mothers at the earliest. Time is also important because the adoption procedure itself is long-drawn and could even take a couple of years.

To avoid legal complication, all the babies will undergo DNA profiling so that samples are matched with either the women who are traced by cops or those that step forward to claim a child. With the laboratories capable of DNA profi ling already burdened with work, the cross-matching may take up to a year or more. CID sources said that they have spoken to the Gujarat FSL and Hyderabad FSL to undertake the DNA profiling as soon as the babies are healthy .

After a child is cross-matched with a mother, CWC is required to give the mother time to rethink before filing the surrender form. Only then will they be eligible for adoption.The rescued babies that are not in hospital will be handed over to CWC as they are either abandoned or stolen kids in need of care and protection.There are two other types of babies under this category: surrendered or orphaned children.

“In none of these cases have the children been formally surrendered. The adoption of all children that have been purchased through the racket are illegal. Not only will such parents face criminal charges if they are detected, the status and inheritance rights of the child can be challenged by other family members,“ pointed out Bipasha Roy , consultant with WBCPCR.

At a meeting chaired by the CID special public prosecutor, it has been decided that henceforth, all adoptions have to be registered with the CID.

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