Children Welfare Committee re-orphans child over bureaucracy

In a strange tale, a childless couple from Kadur, who adopted a newborn child they say they found abandoned on a footpath, have been forced to give up the baby because they have not followed the due process required by the state government for adoptions. 

Aisha Bee, a resident of a village in Kadur, Chikkamagalur district, found a male child by the side of the road two months ago. The mother of the child had wrapped him in a cloth and abandoned him at some unknown time. Aishaa Bee discovered the child after she heard his cries from her home. 

Instead of reporting the matter to the police or any agency, she instead took the child and gave him to her son Mubarak and his wife, Nasira Banu. The couple has not been able to conceive even ten years after their marriage. The couple christened the baby as ‘Abdullah’ and have nurtured it all this time.

After two months the state's Children Welfare Committee came to know about the child, through unknown sources. The officers of the committee visited Aisha Bee and have ordered her to handover the child to the committee.

The officers say that legally the couple cannot adopt the child since the law requires citizens to report found children to the police, who then send the child to a state orphanage. Officers have also clarified that should the couple choose to adopt a child, they should apply for one through the proper channels. 

However, the crux of the issue is that even if the couple complies with all the regulations, files a formal application and meets the eligibility criterion of the law; there is no assurance that Abdullah will be returned to them. They will instead be 'allocated' a child as per the system of the adoption centre. 

Beyond this, there is apparently nothing further the committee is willing to do. So in a bizarre twist, for the sake of procedure, the state seems ready to re-orphan a child who had already found a home. 

• adoption