The jury that will decide the fate of Thalia Driessens (37) was appointed at the Leuven Assize Court on Friday. Starting next Wednesday, the woman will be tried for the murder of her adoptive mother Brigitte Vanaudenaeren (68) in July 2023 at her home in Steenokkerzeel.
Kim Aerts 18-04-25, 16:55 Last update: 17:13
In the night of 11 to 12 July 2023, Brigitte was killed at home along the Tervuursesteenweg in Steenokkerzeel. She had lived there for four decades and no one could say a bad word about her. However, that evening things got out of hand between Brigitte and her adopted daughter. The local police had to go to the scene twice, but when the officers had to return, Brigitte was already dead in the living room. She died of suffocation. The victim worked for the municipality of Zaventem for many years in the Tax Department.
Victim Brigitte Vanaudenaeren. © Marc Baert / rv
Accused Thalia Driessens, born in San Salvador, will be tried in the Leuven Assize Court from Wednesday 23 April for the manslaughter of her mother. Seven men and five women were drawn to judge her guilt. The public prosecutor is represented by Attorney General Marcel Verbelen. Driessens is assisted by Wouter Van Driessche and Jan Donkers. The chair of the Assize Court is Veerle Aelbrecht.

Desperate women denied abortion access in much of the US are being offered a way out for the children they cannot raise themselves. It’s not always what it seems

Desperate women denied abortion access in much of the US are being offered a way out for the children they cannot raise themselves. It’s not always what it seems

The apartment complex nestled in the cradle of Salt Lake City’s snow-capped Rocky Mountains is teeming with expectant mothers. The women have travelled from all over America to give birth to babies they have no intention of keeping.

The apartments are run by adoption agencies that have bussed and flown pregnant women to Utah in their hundreds, if not thousands, exploiting the most relaxed laws in the country governing private adoption. In many cases they have been lured to the state on the promise of rent and cash payments, a practice so controversial Utah has been likened to a “human marketplace”.

The Times interviewed more than a dozen people as part of an investigation into the so-called baby broker business, including women who quickly came to regret the decision to give up their children only to find they had no way to legally reclaim them.

Avantae Deven is accused of killing two of her five adopted children.

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WRAL Investigates the timeline of Fayetteville mother's murder trial

Recently, we partnered with UNICEF India and Indian Association For Promotion Of Adoption & Child Welfare to host a one-day consultation on Strengthening Sponsorship Support for Vulnerable Children. 🚸

From hashtag#frontline CSOs and DCPUs to child protection hashtag#experts, over 50 participants gathered to reimagine sponsorship-not just as financial aid, but as a hashtag#holistic, rights-based family strengthening approach to help children thrive 'within' their hashtag#families. 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒

📣 Through powerful conversations on hashtag#schemes like Bal Sangopan Yojana and Mission Vatsalya, shared hashtag#experiences from the field, and a deep dive into community-driven models, the consultation became a space for hashtag#collective reflection, learning, and hashtag#action.

At Prerana, we believe that hashtag#sponsorship is most effective when it is not treated as a stand-alone intervention, but rather woven into a broader family hashtag#strengthening framework - one that is rooted in empowerment, care, and sustained connection. 

hashtag#Grateful to all who are working to keep children safe, supported, and surrounded by love. 🌻

Tata Institute of Social Sciences Snehalaya (Official) Catalysts For Social Action Community Aid and Sponsorship Programme (CASP) India Salaam Baalak Trust Mumbai Pratham Education Foundation Bal Asha Trust Committed Communities Development Trust 

Geetarani Lourembam Rashmi Taylor Ragamala R. Datta Bhakti Patel 

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hashtag#ProtectChildren

Supreme Court of India

Pinki vs The State Of Uttar Pradesh on 15 April, 2025

2025 INSC 482                                                              REPORTABLE                                IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA                              CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION                               CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1927 OF 2025                            (ARISING OUT OF SLP (CRL) NO. 4658 OF 2025)             PINKI                                                     …APPELLANT(S)                                               VERSUS             STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANR.                         …RESPONDENT(S)                                                 WITH                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1928 /2025                                 (Arising out of SLP(Crl.) No. 592/2025)                                 CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1929 /2025                                 (Arising out of SLP(Crl.) No. 590/2025)                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1930 /2025                                 (Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4660 / 2025)                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1931 /2025                                 (Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4661 / 2025)                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1932 /2025                                 (Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4662 / 2025)                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1933 /2025                                 (Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4664 / 2025)                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1934 /2025   Signature Not Verified   Digitally signed by                                 (Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4665 /2025)   VISHAL ANAND   Date: 2025.04.15   12:47:38 IST   Reason:                                 CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1935 /2025                                (Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4666 of 2025)CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1936 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4667/2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1937 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4668 / 2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1938 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4670 / 2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1939 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4671 / 2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1940 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4672 / 2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1941 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4673 / 2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1942 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4674 / 2025) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1943 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4675 /2025)CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1944 /2025(Arising out of SLP (CRL.) 4676 / 2025)         JUDGMENT

J. B. PARDIWALA, J.

For the convenience of exposition, this judgment is divided in the following parts: -

“If any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, the immediate action against the hospital should be suspension of licence to run the hospital over and above other actions in accordance with law”. ...
 

Supreme Court: In a significant ruling, while considering the instant appeals filed by the kith and kin of the children who came to be trafficked, praying for cancellation of bail granted by Allahabad High Court to the accused persons; the Division Bench of J.B. Pardiwala* and R. Mahadevan, JJ., set aside the bail orders passed by the High Court and the accused persons were directed to surrender before the committal court and the committal court in turn shall remand them to the judicial custody. Additionally, the Court directed that once charge is framed by the Trial Court in individual cases, the concerned Trial Court shall proceed with the recording of the evidence preferably on day-to-day basis and complete the proceedings of the trial within 6 months. The Court also directed the State Governments to implement recommendations made by Bharatiya Institute of Research and Development (BIRD) to combat child trafficking cases. 

The Court strictly remarked that the High Court dealt with the bail applications in a callous manner which eventually led to the abscondment of many accused persons. The Court said that these accused persons are a threat to the society wherever they are in the country. The Court further expressed its disappointment with the State in not challenging the bail orders granted by the High Court. 

Subsequently, the Court conveyed a message of caution to the nation, particularly the parents, the Court said that they should remain extremely vigilant and careful with their children. A slight carelessness or negligence or laxity on their part may prove to be extremely costly. The pain and agony which any parents may have to face when the child dies is different from the pain and agony that the parents may have to face when they lose their children to child trafficking gangs. The Court strictly said that if any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, the immediate action against the hospital should be suspension of licence to run the hospital over and above other actions in accordance with law. “When any lady comes to deliver her baby in any hospital, it is the responsibility of the administration of the hospital to protect the newborn infant in all respects”. 

Background and Contentions: 

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade registered nurse and foster mother accused of abusing her adopted daughters was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse, nearly five years after the death of 7-year-old Samaya, one of the children in her care.

Gina Emmanuel, 56, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read aloud in court.

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The verdict followed a short period of deliberation. Jurors began reviewing the case Monday evening and reached a decision before noon on Tuesday.

While cancelling the bail granted to thirteen accused persons in several cases involving inter-State trafficking of minors, the Supreme Court criticised and expressed its disappointment with how the State of Uttar Pradesh did not challenge the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court despite the matter involving crimes of a serious nature. We are thoroughly disappointed with the manner in...

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Taking a stern view of inter-state child trafficking rackets in the country, the Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to 13 accused and said the "cry of the collective for justice, its desire for peace and harmony" couldn't be trivialised.
     "We direct the state government to ensure that the trafficked children are admitted in schools in accordance with the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and continue to provide support for their education," a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said.
     The top court noted trafficking in India had taken diverse forms -- each prevailing across states.
     "An overall analysis of trafficking patterns across states reiterates the prevalence of trafficking in large numbers with the number of cases sharply rising with time. What is of concern is the rapid spread of the problem with previously unknown factors getting embedded in the web of traffickers," it said.
     The bench said the changing trafficking patterns also brought "changes in the traffickers, their modus operandi, their manipulation of the victims and their understanding of the limitations in the criminal justice system".
     It found fault with the Allahabad High Court orders releasing the accused persons on bail.
     Considering the serious nature of the crime, the bench said the high court should not have ruled in favour of the accused persons.
     "We are sorry to say but the high court dealt with all the bail applications in a very callous manner. The outcome of this callous approach on the part of the high court has ultimately paved the way for many accused persons to abscond and thereby put the trial in jeopardy," it said.
     The "least" the high court could have done was to impose a condition on each of the accused to mark their presence once a week at the police station concerned, the bench added.
     The bench said the life of an individual living in a society governed by the rule of the law had to be regulated.      Such regulations which were the source in law, subserve the social balance and function as a significant instrument to protect human rights and security of the collective, it added.
     Laws, the top court said, were enacted for the collective's obedience so that the society's members lived peacefully.
     The accused were stated to be a "big threat to the society" for exhibiting a tendency of committing child trafficking wherever they went in the country.
     The top court was critical of the Uttar Pradesh government conduct saying, it was "thoroughly disappointed" with the manner in which the situation was handled.
     "Why did the state not do anything for all this period of time? Why did the State not deem fit to challenge the orders of bail passed by the high court? The state unfortunately has exhibited no seriousness worth the name."
     The top court directed the accused persons to surrender and expedited the trial against them in three FIRs registered against them in Varanasi.
     "We direct the chief judicial magistrate district Varanasi and the additional chief judicial magistrate court number 5, District Varanasi to commit all the three criminal cases…of this judgment to the sessions court, within a period of two weeks from today without fail," it said.
     The bench said as all the criminal cases were being committed to the sessions court, the trial court concerned should proceed to frame charges within a week from then on.
     The trial court was ordered to take immediate steps to secure the presence of the accused in case it found that the accused persons had absconded or there whereabouts were not known.
     The 95-page verdict was authored by Justice Pardiwala, who said once charges were framed by the trial court in individual cases, the trial court should proceed with the recording of the evidence, preferably on a day-to-day basis and complete the trial within six months.
     The bench directed the state to appoint three special public prosecutors for conducting trials and said police protection should provided to the victims and their families.
     The police was granted two months to trace the absconding accused persons and produce them before the court concerned at the earliest.
     The bench said at trial's end, the trial court concerned should pass appropriate orders on compensation to the victims under the provisions of the BNSS 2023 including under the Uttar Pradesh Rani Laxmi Bai Mahila Evam Bal Samman Kosh managed by the Land Welfare Committee.