The woman also said that she had earned Rs 10 lakh by working during her holidays but her foster mother took away all her money due to which she was unable to return to her own country.

BHUBANESWAR: A 21-year-old Odia woman adopted by an American couple has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi alleging she was facing harassment at the hands of her foster mother and two murder attempts had also been made on her.

In two separate video messages in Odia and English, the woman further requested the chief minister to facilitate her return journey to Odisha. In the video, the woman said her passport was valid from 2018 to 2023. However, even after the expiry of her passport, her foster mother was not arranging the required documents for her return journey, she alleged.

“I was staying and studying at a hostel in Bhubaneswar and was very happy. Since I came to America, I am not happy at all. My foster mother forces me to do a lot of household work after I return from school,” the woman said, breaking down in tears. She claimed that two murder attempts had been made on her in the United States. “I am a Hindu but my foster mother is forcing me to change my faith,” she further alleged.

The woman also said that she had earned Rs 10 lakh by working during her holidays but her foster mother took away all her money due to which she was unable to return to her own country. She requested the chief minister to facilitate her return journey to Odisha at the earliest so that she can find her parents with whom she got separated several years back.

We were delighted to welcome Dr Laura van Bochove (researcher at the Dutch Supreme Court and legal advisor at the Ministry of Justice and Security) for a research stay at the Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL) in June 2025.
During her visit, she worked on an article for the Tijdschrift voor Familie- en Jeugdrecht (Journal for Family and Youth Law), a Dutch journal focusing on family and youth law, which has since been published.

The article discusses the role of the European Union in the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Parentage/Surrogacy Project. Since 2023, a HCCH working group has been preparing a draft convention with uniform rules on parentage and surrogacy, and it is expected to present its findings by early 2026. In parallel, the European Commission has proposed an EU Parenthood Regulation (7 December 2022), creating overlap and raising questions about the division of powers between the EU and its Member States.

The HCCH project seeks to articulate international rules for recognizing judicial decisions on parentage, while also addressing safeguards in international surrogacy (e.g. informed consent, protection against trafficking). The EU’s proposed Parenthood Regulation covers jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition of decisions, and introduces a European Certificate of Parenthood, but its adoption requires unanimity in the Council and remains politically uncertain.
The article explains the EU’s external competence to conclude international agreements. The Commission argues that the publication of its Parenthood Regulation proposal gives the EU exclusive competence over the HCCH negotiations, even if the regulation has not yet been adopted. However, questions remain about whether the EU can negotiate on substantive family law issues, such as surrogacy safeguards, since its powers are limited to PIL aspects.

During the preparatory phase of the HCCH project, EU institutions and Member States must cooperate closely (Article 4(3) TEU). Member States are expected not to contradict EU positions, though this may frustrate HCCH discussions if EU positions remain vague. A comparison is drawn with the Maintenance Regulation and Hague Maintenance instruments, where the EU played a leading role but waited until the HCCH work was finalized before adopting its own rules.

The conclusion highlights key challenges: parentage, especially following surrogacy, is politically highly sensitive, making EU coordination difficult. Unlike with maintenance law, the EU cannot easily take a leading, constructive role in the HCCH meetings. The article suggests Member States should have more space to voice their own ideas in the preparatory phase to improve discussions, while still respecting the duty of loyal cooperation and EU legal constraints.

Your article in the Tijdschrift voor Familie- en Jeugdrecht examines the EU’s role in the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Parentage/Surrogacy Project. What motivated you to explore this topic, and what are the key challenges you identified?

Bhubaneswar, Nov 9: A heart-wrenching video shared by a young girl named Puja, originally from Odisha, has sparked concern after she alleged severe abuse by her adoptive mother in the United States.

 The video, recorded on a home computer and sent to her childhood friend Amar Nayak in Balasore, shows Puja in tears, pleading for help.

 Puja, now known as Sejal John in the US, was adopted by an American couple in 2018 from a Bhubaneswar-based NGO named Divine Path.

 Her journey began tragically when she was separated from her biological parents during a train journey in Odisha. She was later placed in Nilgiri Balikashram in Balasore by child welfare officials.

Eventually, Puja was transferred to Divine Path, where she was adopted and taken to the US. While her adoption was seen as a new beginning, her recent video reveals a disturbing reality. She alleges that her adoptive mother has been subjecting her to unspeakable abuse.

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. 

PANAJI: A four-year-old boy from Canacona, who suffered grave injuries including a deep cut allegedly inflicted by his mother, has been moved to the Apna Ghar shelter in Merces as per the directions of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

The child, initially treated at Goa Medical College (GMC) where he underwent surgery and began recovering, was transferred to the care facility by the Bicholim Police. Meanwhile, Canacona Police have lodged a case against the mother, though no arrests have been made yet.

Social activists have expressed alarm over possible irregularities in the boy’s adoption, claiming it may not have followed the proper legal process.

Some have even suggested that the incident could be linked to a potential child trafficking racket.

In light of these allegations, the police have given the woman one day to provide proof of her biological connection to the child through DNA verification.

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

A team excavating at the site of a former Irish mother-and-baby institution have found seven sets of what they believe to be infant remains.

The Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT) began their mass excavation of the burial site in Tuam, County Galway, with the objective of identifying the remains of children and babies. 

It is currently unclear whether the bones they have uncovered date back to when the institution was open or from an earlier period. 

St Mary's Home operated from 1925 until 1961 and was run by the Bon Secours Sisters. Pregnant women out of wedlock were kept away in the home and post-birth, newborns were often given up for adoption. 

The home came under international controversy in 2014 after local historian Catherine Corless noticed there were no burial records accounting for the 796 death certificates of the infants who died there. 

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.