The Hindu : Report raises doubts about vagrant woman's claim over Chinnu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 08, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Report raises doubts about vagrant woman's claim over Chinnu

By C. Maya

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM March 7. The Director of Social Welfare, who conducted an enquiry into the background of Chinnu, the little girl found abandoned in the electronic cradle of the State Council of Child Welfare on December 9, has reported that it is not appropriate to hand her over to the nomadic woman, Yasoda, who claimed to be Chinnu's mother.

The Director, who had been directed by the High Court to conduct the enquiry into the matter and submit a report, has also suggested that the child be rehabilitated in a proper institution and made available for adoption.

The report is to be presented before the court when it takes up the OP filed by the Niyama Sahaya Vedi on behalf of Yasoda.

The Council had requested the Social Welfare Director, who holds the charge of the Child Welfare Committee, to conduct necessary enquiries under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000.

The report said the enquiries conducted in Andhra Pradesh on the address provided by Yasoda did not yield any definitive information on Chinnu's real parents. Restoring the child to Yasoda did not seem appropriate in view of circumstances under which she reached the cradle and the fact that she bore the marks of both abuse and neglect, the report said.

It pointed out that the child, who had shown marked affinity towards Yasoda earlier, was indifferent to her when she came to see the child after two months. Local people had told enquiry officers that though the child had been spotted with Yasoda in the nomadic group, she was mostly neglected and had been seen begging in front of shops.

Yasoda had claimed that the child was born at her house in 1998 at Maruvapally, Penakonda P.O. in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. She had claimed that she had undergone a sterilisation surgery at the Government Hospital, Penakonda, four months later. She said that after her husband, Sunkappan, deserted her, she had moved to Kerala with her relatives.

Regarding the burn injuries found on the child, Yasoda claimed that they had been caused by an accident that occurred when the child was playing with a hot iron in a neighbour's house at Kondapuram, Anantapur.

The District Probation Officer, Anantapur, who conducted enquiries there, reported that nobody by the name of Sunkappan and Yasoda had resided at Maruvappally. The records at the hospital in Penakonda did not yield any information on the surgery that Yasoda claimed to have undergone.

The report concludes that there was no conclusive evidence to link Yasoda with the child. It points out that since the child was indifferent to the woman on their second meeting, their relationship could not have been long-standing.

The report takes serious note of the injuries found on the child. The burn marks on the child's inner thigh could not have been through an accident, for the thigh seems to have borne the full weight of the iron box, it points out. The shape of the scar pointed to deliberate application of hot iron.

The child's private parts too showed signs of injuries that could not have been caused by any accident. While there is no evidence as to who inflicted the wounds on her, it was clear that the child had been grossly neglected and had also been sent out for begging. Such being the condition, the child warranted protection under the Juvenile Justice Act, the report said.

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