Earlier this month, 42 children were rescued from the shelter that gave kids to foreign couples for Rs 3 lakh each, violating Indian norms.
Ten days after a "child adoption racket" was busted at an orphanage in Vasai, the state administration is dragging its feet in registering a criminal case against the centre's trustees.
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC), a quasi-judicial authority, had recently directed the government to file the case against trustees of Shejar Chhaya, saying there was enough evidence against them.
The government, however, wants CWC to file the police complaint. The buck-passing means that the trustees will not face action anytime soon.
Forty-two children were rescued from Shejar Chhaya, an orphanagecum-adoption centre, on February 10 in a joint operation by the CWC and the State Department of Women & Child Development.
The centre allegedly forged documents to obtain custody of children, including newborns, and invited mostly foreign couples to adopt them in violation of norms. It preferred foreign couples because the adoption fee for them is Rs 3 lakh compared to Rs 40,000 for Indians.
Indian laws state that orphanages must give 80 per cent of inmates for adoption to Indians and 20 per cent for inter-country (foreign) adoptions, provided no Indian couples are on the wait list. Among the documents Shejar Chhaya allegedly forged was an order with a fake signature of a magistrate that allowed the centre to gain custody of children from mothers unwilling to raise them.
But what shocked officials the most were the unreported deaths of three children who were in the centre's care.
"We had directed the child development department to prosecute the trustees. It's upsetting that the officials didn't obey the order and instead are busy shielding the trustees," a CWC member said.
The CWC magistrate had also passed an order asking the state government to file a police case.
While the department's officials acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to book the trustees for cheating, forgery and culpable homicide, they said that the CWC should approach the police.
"I have already sent all the details pertaining to the case to my superiors for directions. I am awaiting orders from them," said Shahshikant Chavan, a district officer with the department. "However, I have clarified with CWC members that they should file the FIR as they are responsible for the protection of children."
SHOCKING ALLEGATIONS
Signatures of magistrates and government officials were forged to gain custody of children whose mothers didn't want to raise them.
The shelter had no papers for 20 children it had given up for adoption to foreigners.
No records of home visits to check on children sent out of India, as required by the law.
A six-year-old child who was referred to the home by the CWC was found to be ill during the team's first visit in January. When they went back, they were told the child had died.
The trustees had cremated him without conducting a post-mortem, as is mandatory, and also did not inform the government. Two more children had died earlier.
Ten days after a "child adoption racket" was busted at an orphanage in Vasai, the state administration is dragging its feet in registering a criminal case against the centre's trustees.
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC), a quasi-judicial authority, had recently directed the government to file the case against trustees of Shejar Chhaya, saying there was enough evidence against them.
The government, however, wants CWC to file the police complaint. The buck-passing means that the trustees will not face action anytime soon.
Forty-two children were rescued from Shejar Chhaya, an orphanagecum-adoption centre, on February 10 in a joint operation by the CWC and the State Department of Women & Child Development.
The centre allegedly forged documents to obtain custody of children, including newborns, and invited mostly foreign couples to adopt them in violation of norms. It preferred foreign couples because the adoption fee for them is Rs 3 lakh compared to Rs 40,000 for Indians.
Indian laws state that orphanages must give 80 per cent of inmates for adoption to Indians and 20 per cent for inter-country (foreign) adoptions, provided no Indian couples are on the wait list. Among the documents Shejar Chhaya allegedly forged was an order with a fake signature of a magistrate that allowed the centre to gain custody of children from mothers unwilling to raise them.
But what shocked officials the most were the unreported deaths of three children who were in the centre's care.
"We had directed the child development department to prosecute the trustees. It's upsetting that the officials didn't obey the order and instead are busy shielding the trustees," a CWC member said.
The CWC magistrate had also passed an order asking the state government to file a police case.
While the department's officials acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to book the trustees for cheating, forgery and culpable homicide, they said that the CWC should approach the police.
"I have already sent all the details pertaining to the case to my superiors for directions. I am awaiting orders from them," said Shahshikant Chavan, a district officer with the department. "However, I have clarified with CWC members that they should file the FIR as they are responsible for the protection of children."
SHOCKING ALLEGATIONS
Signatures of magistrates and government officials were forged to gain custody of children whose mothers didn't want to raise them.
The shelter had no papers for 20 children it had given up for adoption to foreigners.
No records of home visits to check on children sent out of India, as required by the law.
A six-year-old child who was referred to the home by the CWC was found to be ill during the team's first visit in January. When they went back, they were told the child had died.
The trustees had cremated him without conducting a post-mortem, as is mandatory, and also did not inform the government. Two more children had died earlier.
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