e-Paper
Just over 13 months after she gave birth to a boy, Ms Anupama S. Chandran on Wednesday walked out of a family court in Thiruvananthapuram holding her son, who was draped in a shawl and protected by an umbrella against the rain.
The court in Kerala's capital earlier handed over the infant, given up for adoption against the woman and her partner Ajith Kumar's will, reported The Indian Express
A DNA test confirmed that the baby was their child - thus ending the 23-year-old mother's long search for him - against resistance from her own parents, the police and the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Ms Anupama's parents, both CPM leaders, allegedly gave the baby up for adoption soon after he was born, keeping her in the dark.
They were reportedly opposed to her relationship with Mr Kumar, a former member of the CPM youth wing who was at the time married to another woman.
According to Ms Anupama, her ordeal began in August last year when her parents came to know of her pregnancy. "They tried to convince me my baby was illicit, that I could not rear him," she said.
"They tried to force me to terminate my pregnancy twice.
"At one time, they told me the baby was only a mass of flesh. I was denied normal delivery to convey the impression that he had health issues."
She gave birth on Oct 19 last year and three days later, as she was returning from hospital, the baby was forcibly taken by her parents, she said.
According to Ms Anupama, she was then promised that the baby would be given back after the wedding of her elder sister, but this never happened.
Soon after, she and her partner were sacked from posts in the CPM's youth wing offices.
Despite a police complaint filed by Ms Anupama on April 19 this year, the baby was given up for adoption on Aug 7 by her parents.
This happened three days after Ms Anupama approached the state's Child Welfare Committee (CWC) seeking her child.
The administration got into action only last month after Ms Anupama went public with her allegations.
Since Nov 11, she and Mr Kumar had been protesting in front of the office of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW), whose president is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, that the child be returned to them. On Nov 18, the CWC directed the KSCCW to bring the child back to Kerala.
A team led by KSCCW officials received the child from the adoptive parents in Andhra Pradesh on Nov 20 and brought him to Thiruvananthapuram.
On Wednesday, fighting back tears, Ms Anupama said that for her and Mr Kumar, their boy was a "newborn". "I got separated from him three days after delivery," she said.
"I can't express my happiness and my gratitude to all those who stood with me in this fight for justice."
Mr Kumar said they are not rich and cannot give the baby a "luxurious life", but "we will rear him as a good human being".
Indo-Asian News Service
