Poverty-stricken, Rayagada young couple sells a 9 day old baby girl for Rs 20,000: Child produced before CWC for care & protection
Dr. Badal Tah, Bureau of Odishabarta, Rayagada, November 19: A sad and unfortunate story of poverty has surfaced near JK Pur, just 10 kms away from the district headquarters at Nuapada slum area under Chandili police station. Mother Kumud Ganta(22) belonging to Schedule Caste Community along with father Rahul Dhanabadi(25) allegedly sold a 9 day old baby girl to Koppala Rajshekhar & Nandini of Pedapenki village of Baljipeta in newly formed Manyam district(erstwhile Parvatipuram) of Andhra Pradesh, adjacent to Rayagada with help of an intermediary from a nearby village named Kotapeta.
According to Kumud, this is her 2nd girl child and she is not capable of taking care of the child due to poverty. She is a daily labourer and her husband is a truck helper with meager income. As she does not have her own home to stay, she alongwith her husband and children lives in the house of her brother. The family also does not have a ration card under PDS. She agrees that Rajasekhar and Nandini have paid her Rs.20,000 in lieu of her daughter. A deed of adoption was illegally made violating Sec 56 of Juvenile Justice Act , 2015. (a). According to this act, adoption shall be resorted to for ensuring right to family for the orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, as per the provisions of this Act, the rules made thereunder and the adoption regulations framed by the Authority. The Indian prospective adoptive parents, if interested to adopt an orphan or abandoned or surrendered child, may apply for the same on the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System by filling up the online application form, as provided in Schedule VI, and uploading the relevant documents within thirty days thereby registering themselves as prospective adoptive parents. So, this deed of adoption made on November 11 is illegal and thus stands null & void.
On receiving a complaint from Childline, Priyadarshani Mahankud , Member Child Welfare Committee(CWC) & Satapriya Pradhan from Office of District Child Protection Officer arrived at the spot for inquiry. After the inquiry, they have issued an order to both biological and illegally adoptive parents to produce the child before the CWC. Accordingly the child was produced before the CWC on last Wednesday. As per Bidulata Huika, Chairperson, CWC, Rayagada, the child will be kept under the surveillance of Special Adoption Agency with due medical care and necessary protection. The biological parents will be counseled to surrender the child to the Govt for a legal adoption process as per JJ Act.
“There is a sheer development deficit in the same slum where there are issues like land pattas, govt housing, PDS, drinking water, drainage system, health & sanitation, etc. Kumud’s case is just tip of the iceberg. There are other cases of child sale in the district. Rayagada Society for Fast Justice has written to the present Collector Parul Patwari about a similar case of child sale where medical staff in Sub-divisional hospital Gunupur are involved. The said infant was born twice with fifteen days gap, once by the biological parents in Tarbel village of Gunupur block and 2nd time by the illegal adoptive parents at Bhulusunda village in Padmapur block. But the district administration is indifferent these kind of issues and term these as trivial. If corrective measures are not taken by the district administration, this process will snowball in the entire district”, said Shyam Kumar Dash, Ex-President, Rayagada College Students’ Union.
