Condamnée à 10 ans de prison pour enlèvement d’enfants dans le cadre de fraudes à l’adoption, la Belgo-Congolaise de Namur Julienne Mpemba fait appel
Julienne Mpemba, une Belgo-Congolaise originaire de Namur, a été condamnée le mois passé à 10 ans de prison ferme pour fraudes à l’adoption. L’arrestation immédiate avait même été ordonnée. Julienne Mpemba va en appel du jugement.
Ranchi: Adoption process in the state has become increasingly difficult for prospective parents in recent times. The waiting duration has significantly lengthened, with families now having to wait between 2.5 to 3 years before being matched with a child. The waiting list in Jharkhand exceeds 3,000 families.
Govt agencies offer children aged between 0 to 6 years for adoption, comprising those who have been surrendered by their parents or found abandoned.
Sangita Sahay, a social worker at Karuna NMO, said, "Parents in line to adopt is more than the children available for adoption across the district. Since 2018, the number of families seeking to adopt has surged. Now, prospective parents are required to wait at least 2.5 to 3 years before they can adopt a child. These days, the lists from 2021 are being released.
"The current situation is evident at Ranchi's two adoption agencies. Karuna houses 18 children whilst Sahyog Village has seven children available for adoption. Adoption costs Rs 64,000, and agencies conduct post-adoption monitoring to ensure child welfare.
Alka Sharma, superintendent at Sahyog Village, said, "This number is likely understated, as many interested families do not even register with the agency, leaving a significant number unaccounted for. The demand for adopting both a baby girl and a baby boy are the same.
The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal case against a woman booked for human trafficking, who allegedly sold her minor daughter for Rs 15,000 to a couple in Maharashtra as she was unable to maintain herself and her child.
In doing so the court noted that the woman had a "bonafide intention" to get the child adopted, even though the procedure was not followed adding that ingredients of the offence of trafficking were not made out.
Justice K Natarajan allowed the petition filed by one Mandara and quashed the proceedings registered under Section 370 (Trafficking of a Person) read with Section 34 (common intention) IPC and Section 81 (Sale and procurement of children for any purpose) of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
The FIR registered by the police on March 13, 2019 was based a complaint filed by the one Punith Kumar E., District Child Protection Officer alleging that the petitioner woman had sold her child to accused Nos.2 and 3.
It was alleged that the petitioner is said to have married to one Girish and out of the wedlock, they begot a male child and the petitioner's husband deserted her and the child. Thereafter, it was alleged that she became intimate with another person named Venkatesh and out of that relationship, she delivered a female child on February 24, 2019.
Kathryn and Joshua Silvers allege gross negligence, medical malpractice led to their son's death at Discovery Ranch
The family of a boy who died at a teen residential treatment center in Mapleton is filing a notice of intent and notice of claim against the facility and others as a prelude to a possible malpractice claim.
Kathryn and Joshua Silvers are alleging in the notice that gross negligence, medical malpractice and systemic failures at Discovery Ranch Academy led to the death of their son, Biruk Silvers, on Nov. 5, according to a release from their attorney.
Kathryn Silvers addressed the allegations in a statement from the family during a virtual meeting Monday morning.
“In our efforts to get (Biruk) the help he needed, we placed him at Discovery Ranch Academy, believing their promises to us and at great expense to our family. We were assured we would be partners in his care and kept informed at every step of the way, but they broke that promise,” she said. “They kept us in the dark about the very things we needed to know to protect our son. On Nov. 5, 2024, a parent’s worst nightmare came true. Our son Biruk died (of) asphyxiation while in the care of Discovery Ranch Academy. And now, almost two weeks later, we know this is not an inevitable tragedy, it was a preventable one.”
As soon as they heard from the nursing home that their surrogate had delivered a healthy baby, the adoptive parents (name withheld) informed the adoption agency of their decision to return the 8and 10-year-old siblings they had adopted a few months earlier. The children, who are now back in the adoption home, will be counselled for foster care or placement in a govt home where they may grow up as orphans.
Since 2020, about 12 parents in Tamil Nadu have returned children – less than 10 years old – who they legally adopted through various govt-certified agencies for different reasons. Four parents quoted “adjustment issues” as a reason for returning children. While one parent thought the toddler did not make enough eye contact during conversation another felt the child had anger issues. Some parents quoted marital or financial problems within the family, and others cited the child’s poor health. In one case it was the death of a parent. Officials confirmed that while three of them have been re-adopted, one is in foster care and the remaining still in govt homes.
The social welfare department has recorded three dissolutions of adoption in 2020, four in 2021 and five in 2023. Protocols, however, are now being implemented to ensure they don’t happen again. “We counsel parents at least twice to see if we can help them retain the child. In some cases, we know parents may not have a choice. The adoption process is then dissolved to declare the adoption void,” says social welfare secretary Jayashree Muralidharan.
An authorised agency applies for dissolution to the district magistrate through the district child protection unit. Once the process is completed, the child is back on the list of those “legally free” for adoption. “Considering the long wait list, most children get another chance quickly,” says Muralidharan. “In general, most adoptions are successful. Dissolutions, however, have become unavoidable due to various reasons in some cases.”
Psychiatrists say parents who surrender adopted children cannot be villainised as they are seeing a rise in “adaptive challenges” for different reasons. First, as adopted children identified with early stressful childhood, many parents seek consultations for “behaviour issues” after complaints from siblings, neighbours and schools. “It’s tough on the child as well as the parent. Until some years ago, most adoptions happened within the family. A couple who do not have children will adopt their nephews or nieces, or from families known to them. The joint family system monitored the upbringing of the adopted child,” says child psychiatrist Dr V Jayanthini.
Today, information about biological parents is unknown in most cases, she says. “Mothers may not have had a happy pregnancy period. They may have neglected their diet and medical care, resulting in little bonding between the mother and the child after birth. All this can be stressful for the child. When they come to new homes the process of adapting themselves may add to this stress. While in many cases they tend to settle in with love and care, some children and parents just don’t get along.”
How did we move from the first international recognition of children's needs in the 1920s to the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child? How did the imperative of protecting the youngest gradually become linked to that of their emancipation, and therefore the consideration of their opinions and capacities for action? Historical insight.
This year, 2024, we commemorate the centenary of the first statement of the rights of the child, through the Geneva Declaration, and the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
From the regulation of labor to the progress of schooling, from the development of pediatrics to the "invention" of early childhood, including state intervention within the family unit when necessary, there were certainly many advances in the 19th century to improve the fate of children in Europe. But it was in the 20th century , in the aftermath of the Great War, that the transnational movement for the adoption of a declaration of the rights of the child achieved a tangible result.
Looking back at this story helps shed light on contemporary issues surrounding young people's voices, on an international scale.
Recipients of Amnesty's Media Prize. From left: Lisbeth Dilling, Søren Klovborg, Karoline Engelund and Nikolaj Venge (far right). Number two from the right is David Kildendal, who features in the documentary. Mikkel Inumineq Jørgensen
Amnesty's Media Prize 2024 goes to Søren Klovborg, Karoline Engelund, Lisbeth Dilling and Nikolaj Venge from DR for the documentary series 'Det store adoptiontyveri', which uncovers one of the biggest adoption scandals in Denmark. It investigates and exposes the trafficking of children to Denmark.
It has just been announced in Øksnehallen in Copenhagen, where DJ's Fagfestival 2024 will be held.
