Adoption – A blessing or Child on Sale
What if you come to know that the baby you were waiting for months born out as still born? And what if after few years you know that the same child is alive and living with another family? The question which will arise would be how did the child get their? What could be the possible reason for this? Who was lying the family or the hospital staff? What could justify the pain of those who were waiting for the little one for months?
Before getting into discussion of above question lets understand the law related to adoption first. In India adoption of a child is legal if done according to guideline of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2015 read with Adoption Regulation,2017. Both the acts have recognized five kinds of legal adoption namely,
A child can be adopted if s/he is:
- Anorphan, abandoned or surrendered (OAS) child whohas been declared legally free for adoption by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
- A child of a relative (a relativemeans the child’s paternal uncle or aunt, a maternal uncle or aunt or paternal and maternal grandparents).
- Child or children of spouse from earlier marriage surrendered by the biological parent(s) for adoption by the step-parent. (Section 38 and 56 of the JJ Act, 2015 and Regulation 4 of Adoption Regulations) .
Further not only who can be adopted but age and marital status are also factor which will decide adoption and the same are discussed below;
Prospective adoptive parents (PAP):- who are physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially capable and who do not have any life threatening medical conditions are eligible to adopt.
- The minimum age difference between the child and parent shall not be less than twenty-five
Married:
- Married couples with at least 2 years of stable marital relationship
- Both spouses must consent for adoption in case of a married
- The composite age of the married-couple does not exceed 110 years
Single Parent:
- Single persons with or without biological or adoptive children can adopt provided they satisfy the following:
- A single female can adopt a childof any gender
- A single male is not eligible toadopt a girl child
- Age of a single parent does notexceed 55
- Must have less than four childrenunless they are adopting a child with special needs, a hard to place child, a relative’s child or a step-
AGE:
The age of child in ratio to that of the prospective parent should be :- Age / ratio of child and prospective Parents
0-18 years 90 years (Couple) – 45years(Single)
4-18 years 100 years(Couple)– 50 years(Single)
8-18 years 110 years(Couple)-55 years(Single)
After so many guideline and restriction to be followed there is another factor, which is nationality.
Indians: A decree of court will be required,
Any Non-Resident Indian, Overseas Citizen of India or foreign
prospective adoptive parents:- living in a country which is a signatory to the Hague Adoption Convention and wishing to adopt an Indian child, can approach the Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency or the Central Authority concerned, as the case may be, for preparation of their Home Study Report and for their registration in Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System.
In case, there is no Authorised Foreign A doption Agency or Central Authority in their country of habitual residence, then the prospective adoptive parents shall approach the Government department or Indian diplomatic mission concerned in that country for the purpose.
Now after all the understanding of law and guidelines the question comes that why crime like child trafficking for adoption, prostitution, forced labour and the ongoing list continues? How does these children get engulfed in these vicious circle?
In India there are several cases where children are either kidnapped for trafficking either to be sent to slave houses or for adoption. Where a statistics available at www.nhrc.nic.in suggesting the number of victims and survivors prosecution of traffickers and other exploiters and changes proposed in Immoral Traffic (Prevention) ct (ITPA).
Some of the highlights of the report include –
- 5%of the victims of CSE are in the age group of 22 to 35 years.
- 3%entered prostitution by the age of 18.
- 5%of victims had been convicted earlier on charges of soliciting.
- 2%of rescued victims had health problems.
- 5%of the prostitutes’ clientele are married.
- 6%of the clients never encountered police in the brothels.
- 7%were victims of CSE before becoming brothel owners.
- 90%of the traffickers were Indians
- 60%of the cases of trafficking go unreported as stated by police
- 40%of the police officials interviewed were unaware of
One of the biggest trafficking of children are for adoption. These adoption are usually done Interstate or internationally adoption of child are very common and people do come forward to support adoption as this gives a child a better life. Usually if adoptive parents are from India the procedure is simply without any side- line, whereas on the other part a Non- Indian / foreigner or Oversea Resident of Indian have to face some extra side-lines fulfilment of which will determine the completion of adoption. And here at this point where the side- line appear the role of traffickers come into play.
A report from NCRB of recent years showed the statistics of the crime against the children:-
Madhya Pradesh has reported the maximum kidnapping or abduction of children (below 6 years) accounting for 24.6% (533 out of 2,163) of total such kidnappings & abductions.
Delhi UT has reported highest number of kidnapped or abducted children belonging to age group 6 years – below 12 years accounting for 26.8%(1,224 out of 7,726 children) of total such kidnapped or abducted children. Delhi UT has also reported highest kidnapping/abduction of children belonging to age group 12 years-below 16 years accounting for 19.1%(3,260 out of 17,047 children) of total such kidnapped or abducted children.
Uttar Pradesh has highest kidnapping or abduction of 3,405 children belonging to age group 16 years – below 18 years accounting for 17.7% of total such kidnapped or abducted children. Uttar Pradesh has also reported maximum number of victims under the age group of 18 year & above.
These data are sufficient to connect the point which are looped by different connection of not only just kidnapping or abduction but also the dreadful side of these crime which are adoption, begging, camel racing, illicit intercourse, marriage, prostitution, ransom, revenge, sale, selling body parts, slavery, unlawful activity, murder and many more which are beyond imagination and gruesome.
Now the question is how to track these people who are indulging in these unlawful activities and not only people we should focus on but the hospital, the intermediaries, and in-fact the parents who sell of their children or just send them to orphanage. The journey from kidnaping and then reaching the destination or what we can say ‘consumers’.
Some of the several incidents which are nough to shake our soul and be more conscious for safety of our children are as followed
- Thirty-five-year-old lady told thepolice that she delivered a healthy baby boy on October 23. But since her discharge from hospital, there was no one to take care of the baby and she fell sick and gave the baby for adoption to
A case registered under section 317(exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years by parent or person having care of it) and 370(4) (trafficking of a minor) of IPC, reading with Section 80 and 81 of juvenile justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The couple allegedly gave away their child to their relative without due procedure by receiving Rs. 7,000 from the adopting family.
- Anotheranonymous writer on the platform named as ‘Your story’ narrated her 5 years of life as a frozen She said she was kidnapped from a park near her house at the age of 12 and served as a prostitute in different stated of India till she was 17. Her mother died due to not eating for months and father committed suicide. 79% of all global trafficking is for sexual exploitation.
The punishment:- The punishment of giving a child away for adoption without following the due procedure of law which may extend upto three years, or with fine of one lakh rupees, or with both.
What is government doing ?
Some measures are proposed by the Ministry of Women & Child Development for the ‘Development of the Child at the Centre of the Eleventh Plan’ (2007-2012 are as follow: –
- Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS): A centrally sponsored scheme to address the issue of child protection and build a protective environment for children through Government- Civil Society
- Establishmentof a Nodal Cell for Prevention of Trafficking to coordinate, network and provide feedback to State Governments and other concerned agencies, as well as share data, best practices, innovations etc. on a sustained and continuous basis to enable better
- Communityvigilance groups in source areas and disaster prone
- Child Help Lines to be establishedand widely publicised at the village
- Strengtheningoverseas and foreign relation in respect to these
At last to sum up it should be known by all that there are children helpline as 1098 which are active 24*7. We at local level should promote awareness campaigns related to child care and adoption. Each society and local district can have data based system which comprise the name address blood group and finger print of the child. Our vigilance can be the strongest attack on these traffickers.