Associations' / Institutions' News

Journey of justice for Mother and Child, ended successfully after 9 months of struggle by mother, an inmate of Snehalaya Psycho Social Rehabilitation Home for Women, Manjeshwar.

Media Release

Manjeshwar, Jan 2 : On 13th December 2019, Kasaragod police admitted a woman to Snehalaya Psycho- Social Rehabilitation Home for Women at Manjeshwar as she was mentally ill. Vanitha cell of Kasaragod was on their night duty and found a lady nearly 40-year-old with a boy child of one and  half year at Kasaragod railway station. She informed the police that her name is Bihalath. The police of Vanitha Cell took them to Mahila Mandiram of Kasaragod. They informed the Kasaragod police to take the lady for treatment. And the child was given to Kasaragod District Child Welfare Committee. Then the woman was separated from the child and admitted to Snehalaya by the Police of Kasaragod. These details were known to them through a letter handed over by the Kasaragod police at the time of admission.

During her admission process at Snehalaya, she had stated her name as Aarti. Then she began to respond to medications given for her mental illness with constant involvement in medical checkups, counseling and various therapeutic activities. She was recovering from her psychological problems. She started asking about her infant who was with her during her rescue by Police. Realizing this, the Psychiatric Social Workers of Snehalaya, began to look for the answers to many unanswered questions about the child's whereabouts. The search for the child's whereabouts was launched under the direction of the Managing Trustee Brother Joseph Crasta, Snehalaya Charitable Trust.
 
Team Snehalaya made a phone call to the Mahila Mandiram asking for the child and the only answer was that the child had been handed over to "Pattuvat" Baal Vikas Bhavan. With this information, team Snehalaya visited the Kasaragod District Child Welfare Committee on 27th March 2021 to provide the information of the child to the mother. After explaining the facts, the mother requested to give her a chance to see the child. When team Snehalaya and the said  mother found a poor response from them, they  gave a written request to give  the custody of the child to the mother. But her request was denied as CWC said that the so-called mother should come with her family with proper documents.
 
A fight for justice began, it was a very difficult task to find the family of Arathi. Finally, on November 30, 2021, the Snehalaya team traced Aarti's family in Bihar and the details. Her real name was Kanchanadevi, her husband Sanjay Bind, is originally from Odawar village of Bihar, and she is a mother of 5 children and at the birth of 5th child, Karthik - Kailash she became mentally ill and left the house with three month old boy child. The family members searched for the mother and child but weren't able to find them.
 
After finding the address, the team Snehalaya contacted and communicated with family members and documents were sent to them. With these documents Psychiatric Social Worker and  Arati visited Kasaragod District child welfare committee on December 3, 2021, but even then, there was no response and no reply to the letter given in March 2021. Again the mother was denied an opportunity to see her child.
 
On December 6th, 2021, Snehalaya team  visited Kasaragod Police, Kasaragod District Child Welfare Committee, Women and Child Welfare Department, District Child Protection Officer and District Collectorate requesting to give the custody of the child to its mother.
 
Team Snehalaya was in contact with the family members and Sanjay Bindh, husband of Arathi and his cousin came down to Snehalaya to take back Arathi and her child. On 9th December 2021, Snehalaya filed an application to the District Child Protection officer seeking justice for the mother and child. And after 2 days with the cooperation of DCPO,  the child was shown to the parents for a moment. The parents met the District Collectorate and requested for the custody of the child. At the discretion of the District Collector, all  documents were presented to the Kasaragod District Child Welfare Committee by the child's mother on 14 December 2021. But they refused, saying all these documents were not reliable even the Aadhaar Card and Voter ID.
 
The special meeting at the DC office was held on December 17, 2021, in the presence of the Officers of District Child Protection Unit, Chairman of Kasaragod District Child Welfare Committee, District Social Justice Officer , Founder of Snehalaya, Social Workers and parents of the Child. It was observed that after the claim from the mother for the custody of her child  in March 2021 to the Kasaragod District Welfare Committee, in the month of October 2021 the child had been given for foster care. The District Collector enquired about this. And ordered for DNA test of Mother and said child under the direction of  the District Child Protection Unit.
 
On 19th  December 2021, the sample of the mother and child was taken for the DNA test at District Government Hospital of Kasaragod. On 27th December 2021, DNA results confirmed that Arati was the biological mother of the child. On 28th December 2021, on the basis of DNA results, the parents requested for the custody of the child. But the child was not given and they were asked to come after 2 days.
 
However on 31st December 2021 at 01.30 noon, CWC Kasaragod gave the custody of the child to its biological parents. Thus the journey for justice for Mother and child which was started in March 2021, ended after 9 months - with a visit, meeting and discussion for more than 13 times at Kasaragod District Government authorities. Snehalaya Charitable Trust, Manjeshwar thanks the District Collectorate, District Social Justice Committee and District Child Protection Unit who assisted in this journey and provided justice for the mother and child.