Infant seized from adoptive parents, reunited with biological mother after Rajasthan high court order

According to a report by Bhilwara police in the court, the woman, a resident of the district, was 17 years old when she gave birth to a girl in August last year

odhpur: A nine-month-old baby was seized from her adoptive parents and returned to her biological mother on the directions of the Rajasthan high court, which observed that the infant was illegally given up for adoption by the woman’s father as he opposed her inter-faith relationship.

“When I gave birth to the child, I was not even told whether it was a boy or a girl. I was not even allowed to see her face. Now that I have got my daughter back, I cannot express my happiness in words,” the infant’s biological mother said.

According to a report by Bhilwara police in the court, the woman, a resident of the district, was 17 years old when she gave birth to a girl in August last year. She had eloped with her Muslim friend and realised she was pregnant after she returned home.

After the minor gave birth, her father, who was against the inter-faith relationship, handed over the infant to a former Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member who, in return, gave it to a childless couple in Mumbai.

Nandlal, station house officer (SHO) of Subhash Nagar police station, said that on turning 18 earlier this year, the woman filed a habeas corpus petition in the court, urging police to locate her child. On Tuesday, a Jodhpur bench of the high court directed the Mumbai couple to return the baby to her biological mother.

“After a notice on the habeas corpus petition was served, we first gathered information from the private hospital where the girl child was born and then tracked her whereabouts. We learnt that the child was being taken care of by a couple in Mumbai,” Nandlal said.

In its order on Tuesday, the Jodhpur bench of the high court observed that “the petitioner, who admittedly eloped with Faizan Khan at the age of approximately 17 years,… claims that her father took the child away from her immediately after her birth when she was in his custody. The child’s whereabouts became unknown thereafter. Subsequently, upon reaching adulthood, the petitioner started living with Faizan Khan.”

The division bench of justices Arun Bhansali and Rajendra Prakash Soni also took note of a police report on May 19 which said the infant was in the custody of a Navy personnel named Anuj and his wife Disha in Mumbai. Police said the couple was willing to produce the child before the court.

“The factual report submitted by the police specifically highlights the fact that the petitioner’s father handed over the custody of the six-day-old infant to Asha Ramawat, who claims to have been a member of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in 2020-2021. Asha Ramawat, acting as a support person for the CWC, handed over the child to Manju Pokharna’s sister, a resident of Delhi, who then likely passed the child to her daughter, a resident of Mumbai,” the court said, quoting the police report.

During the hearing, Disha also said that the child was handed over to her by Ramawat. Her counsel, Pradeep Shah, admitted that the child’s transfer did not take place as per guidelines and did not object to the infant’s return to her biological mother.

While the court directed that the child be returned to her biological mother, it reprimanded the latter and the former CWC member.

“The actions of the petitioner’s father, who took custody of the six-day-old child from the mother, regardless of the mother’s minority status at the time, and the actions of the purported social worker, who was formerly a member of the CWC, cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. It is surprising that the petitioner remained silent for over eight months after the child was taken from her on August 24, 2022, without showing any concern for the child’s whereabouts. Only after attaining majority did she take steps to regain custody of the child,” the bench said.

It also directed police to initiate action against Ramawat for “misusing her status” as a former member of CWC and illegally putting up the child for adoption.