"Infant Boy Faked As Girl Malala By State Body": Congress In Kerala Targets Left

The Opposition in Kerala on Tuesday attacked the ruling Left after a CP(I)M leader was accused by his daughter of forcefully separating her infant child from her. Accusing the ruling Left of systemic lapse and party conspiracy in the case, the Opposition staged a walkout with the Leader of Opposition alleging that the party has been given a free hand in making crucial decisions. The minister for Health, Woman and Child Welfare Veena George, however, refuted all the allegations.

"You all are Left but your response has been far-right in this case. It has been very conservative. This is a conspiracy. It's not one crime. It's a series of crimes," Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan alleged before staging a walk-out.

"This crime is among the most chilling and heinous crimes that we have seen. We have heard of (dis)honour crimes. This is nothing short of a (dis)honour crime. A (dis)honour crime not only by the family but had assistance from the state machinery and ruling party leaders. We demand a judicial probe," first time MLA KK Rema alleged in the Assembly, adding that the issue isn't only about the woman's search for her child, but also the heartbreak for parents who have adopted the child.

Minister Veena George told the House that a detailed probe has been ordered to be submitted within three weeks but said that interim investigations showed all rules were followed.

"A detailed probe has been ordered and the report will be ready in three weeks. But in the investigations till now, we have understood that all rules were followed... Even the case for adoption was taken to the family court and the hearing was completed. It was at this time that Anupama's issue came before us. We did what we could do best and went before the court seeking a stay," Ms George said.

"The government is very clear in its stand. If a mother can raise the child, the child must be with the mother. We will take all steps for this. The final decision is with the court now. The complaints made to the Chief Minister were forwarded to the police station concerned. After the initial probe into the case, the police called and advised the mother to go the legal way and move court", the minister added.

"When the Minister was speaking, I was expecting that she would say that strong action will be taken against those found guilty. But instead, she tried to whitewash all errors of the Child Welfare Committee. The grandparents handed over the child to the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare. Then how is it that it's been recorded that the child was found in the cradle? The infant was falsely registered as a girl child and advertised as Malala. How did this happen?" the Opposition Leader lashed out. The gender and the name were later corrected.

"Despite knocking on all doors, the mother got no response. Two people in the adoption committee - the council Chairman and General Secretary - knew whose child this was. Yet, they agreed to go ahead with the adoption process. They even filed an affidavit last week also in support of the adoption. Suddenly, after media pressure, the government's stand changed."

Anupama, the 22-year-old mother, had made scathing accusations against her father and CPIM Leader Jaychandran PS, and his party, alleging that her parents forcibly took away her three-day-old child from her in October 2020 because they did not approve of her relationship with her partner. Anupama has also alleged that despite police complaints since April 2020 and subsequent petitions to Kerala Chief Minister, top CPI(M) leaders, Child Welfare Committee to help find her child, no action was taken. An FIR was registered just last week, six months since the police complaint.