Nagpur: Social media has been flooded with messages about children orphaned due to Covid-19 and how people can adopt them by simply reaching out to a number mentioned in the message. Legal experts warn that indulging in any such activity is nothing short of ‘child trafficking’ because adoption involves a very comprehensive legal process.

In India, adoption process is solely under the purview of Centralized Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), which is a statutory body under the Union ministry of women and child development. This agency then has a State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) to coordinate at the local level. So, regardless of a prospective parent approaching an NGO or an orphanage, all applications will ultimately be routed to CARA.

Well-known lawyer Shyam Dewani said if your adoption process is not registered with CARA, then it’s illegal. “The law is very clear and there are two things you must not do. First, don’t forward such messages to anyone regardless of who sent it. Second, don’t ever call on that number because out of the goodness of your heart, you wish to adopt that child,” he said.

“If you do any of these things, then knowingly or unknowingly you become part of a larger criminal conspiracy. And people must use some common sense too that you just can’t call up a number and take home a baby. We are talking about a human being here, not some product on online site,” said Dewani.

These fake or illegal social media messages can get extremely creative to pull at people’s heart strings. Emotional messages about a child being found wandering after both parents died due to Covid-19 and how he needs a new home, are being circulated.

Child rights activists have urged the public not to circulate or fall for fake messages seeking adoption of Covid orphaned children that are increasingly seen on social media in recent times.

They have urged people to report such messages to 1048, clarifying that adoptions take place according to

established norms. Recently, a message asking people to contact a person to adopt a girl child went viral on

social media.

“If anyone wishes to adopt a girl, please feel free to contact 097******73 (Priyanka). One girl is 3 days old, and

New Delhi: With messages on social media floating of people having adopted and willing to adopt children who have lost parents to Covid-19, chairman of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) Anurag Kundu has asked Delhi Police to intervene in these matters and increase their vigilance on social media.

This red flag from Kundu follows the fear that some may use this opportunity for trafficking or selling children.

In a letter to Delhi Police commissioner SN Srivastava, Kundu said, “I want to bring to your attention my concern about social media being currently filled with adoption information of acceptance and offer of children who have turned orphan during the pandemic. The child rights commission has come across many instances on social media where people who have information about orphans are encouraging others to adopt them.”

“In some cases the post update informs the children have been adopted. I am sure some of these are out of ignorance of the law governing adoption, however, they may also be cases of trafficking and sale/purchase of the children. These need to probed to get to the depth of the matter,” the letter added.

Kundu said he will also be writing to the DCP, cyber crime, with specific instances requesting inquiry.

‘Social media posts on such children could be possible cases of trafficking’

Social media posts appealing for adoption of children orphaned during COVID-19 are illegal, warn experts. They appeal that citizens must dial helpline 1098 to pass on information about children in need of care and protection.

With deaths due to the COVID-19 on the rise, Twitter and Whatsapp have been flooded with citizens sharing details of children who have lost either both their parents or the only living parent to the disease and pleading for them to be adopted. On Monday, Chairperson Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Anurag Kundu, wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava flagging such posts as possible cases of trafficking and requesting for a probe in each of these instances.

Activists warn that such posts are illegal under Section 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015, which prohibit offering or receiving children outside the processes laid down under the Act as well as their sale and purchase. Such acts are punishable with three to five years in jail or ?1 lakh in fine.

“There is a process as per the JJ Act which needs to be followed with children who have been orphaned. If someone has information about a child in need of care, then they must contact one of the four agencies: Childline 1098, or the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC), District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) or the helpline of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights,” says Vaidehi Subramani, Chairperson of CWC, South Delhi District.

Smriti Irani said anyone who has information about a child whose parents have died of Covid-19 and has no one take care, should inform police and the district child welfare committee.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Tuesday urged people to inform police about children who have lost both parents to Covid-19 and have no one to take care of them.

Appealing to the people, the minister said this is a legal responsibility and people should help the government in preventing illegal adoption.

I have chosen to not disclose the identities of my sources, in order to protect them from possible retaliation. All of the people that I spoke to are children’s rights advocates working in the region. Apart from working as a freelance writer, I also work as a children’s rights advocate in Uganda. In this piece, I’m not sharing any information that hasn’t already been put out there publicly by Alicia Marie Harding herself.

The current situation

After writing about the Melanie Brechlin case a few weeks ago, I was recently informed about another possible adoption case in Zambia, by a children’s rights advocate in my circles. Again, the ‘adoption journey’ in question is being chronicled on a public Instagram profile — as is often the case.

On September 10 2020, Alicia Marie Harding published an Instagram post in which she announced that she and her family would be fostering a pair of newborn twins in Zambia. In an accompanying blog post that she wrote (which can be found here, on her blog girlgoestoafrica.com), Harding — who works as a missionary nurse — told her followers about how she was working at the clinic one day, when she received a call from a medical officer of a nearby district. The medical officer described an emergency situation in which a mother had just given birth to twins. The mother had passed away after giving birth, leaving behind a total of 8 children. There was no capacity for the family to also look after two vulnerable newborns, who had been welcomed into the world at just 36 weeks old.

Harding wrote about how the twins would live with them for the foreseeable future, but immediately stressed that they would want to eventually adopt the children — if the twins’ family would comply.

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Arun Dohle

Date: Tue, 4 May 2021 at 13:46

Subject: Re: Reminder: FW: Unicef Netherlands position in Intercountry Adoption ?

To: Kerry Neal

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Earlier this week, DCPCR appealed to people on social media to call on their helpline number and report cases where children need essential supplies, have lost their parent(s), or are struggling to support themselves due to the illness.

Flooded by requests for adopting children who lost their parents to Covid-19, both online and offline, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has urged people not to fall for misinformation floating on social media, and advised interested families to follow the due legal process to initiate the adoption process.

Several children have lost their parents to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic -- fourth wave, as per the Delhi government -- in the national capital. Earlier this week, DCPCR appealed to people on social media to call on their helpline number and report cases where children need essential supplies, have lost their parent(s), or are struggling to support themselves due to the illness. Following this, the child rights body said requests for adopting children orphaned amid the pandemic have also started pouring in.

Commission chairperson Anurag Kundu tweeted on Saturday evening: “Do not believe anyone who says he/she can give you the child for adoption. They are either lying or misleading or simply involved in illegal practices. Do reach out to your lawyer friends for advice.”

Kundu said he himself has received around 10 such requests in the last few days. “Besides, I see a lot of posts floating around about child adoption. People need to understand that they have to follow a legal process. Any adoption without it is illegal,” he said.

The adoptive parents of a girl child have moved the Supreme Court challenging a Kerala High Court judgment of April 9, which had set aside the adoption of the child on the ground that a deed of surrender had not been executed by both the biological parents.

A Bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheswhari stayed the judgment of the Kerala High Court after the petitioners pointed out that the High Court had passed its verdict without hearing them.

“Considering the facts and circumstances of this case, in the meanwhile, the operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed,” the Court ordered.

Advocates Liz Mathew, Manisha Singh and Sonali Jain appeared for the petitioners (adoptive parents).

Background