Silver lining for newborn

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

While the 10-year-old rape victim’s parents refused to take a glimpse of the newborn, the Child Welfare Committee and Social Welfare Department received a large number of calls from people wanting to adopt the child.

Since Friday morning, people from the country and abroad are dialing the child helpline and asking for the legal procedure to adopt the newborn.

Harjinder Kaur, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Commission for Protection for Child Rights (CCPCR), said there were set guidelines for the adoption of a child. “Once a child is declared legally free for adoption, details, including the certificate and medical report, are uploaded on the website of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA),” she said.

She further said that in this case, they were hopeful that the child would get foster parents in less than a year. In the meantime, the Social Welfare Department has hired four women attendants to look after the child.

Sources said members of the Child Welfare Committee had visited the hospital this evening to complete formalities of surrendering the child to the state adoption agency.

“The girl’s parents will be educated about applying for surrender under the Juvenile Justice Act. In this case, since the parents have already given in writing that they do not want to keep the newborn, we will counsel them about the process,” says Neil Roberts, the committee chairperson.

10- year-old suffers from high BP

• The 10-year-old mother continued to remain in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to high blood pressure and hypertension.  There were rumours that the victim had come to know about the delivery of the child and was upset on being declined to meet the child.  
• Prof Dasari Harish, HoD, forensic medicine and head of the 10-member committee of the GMCH- 32, put all these rumours to the rest.  Prof Harish said the girl was barely 10-year-old and such complication post-delivery are natural.  
• He maintained both mother and child were being given the possible best treatment. He said the newborn was still kept in the neo-natal ward of the hospital.  On the second day, the newborn was fed through the milk bank of the hospital. 

Adoption process

As per the online process, details of children are sent to selected parents according to their demands. They are given 48 hours to confirm. After receiving confirmation, the case goes to the district court through a specialised adoption agency. Soon after the case goes to cthe ourt, the child can be handed over to parents for pre-adoption foster care.