In a major embarrassment to the ruling party, the Kerala secretariat on Saturday witnessed a strange protest—by a mother seeking to find her one-year-old son who was allegedly given for adoption without her knowledge. Her husband also joined her hunger strike.
The complainants, Anupama S. Chandran and her husband Ajith, and their family members are active CPI(M) members. “I am here seeking justice. I will not budge until I get it,'' Anupama said. “The system has failed me,'” she added.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against Anupama’s father and CPI(M) local committee member P.S. Jayachandran, mother Smitha James, who is a CPI(M) branch committee member, sister, her husband and two of her father’s friends. The action was taken six months after Anupama filed the case.
On April 19, Anupama lodged a complaint with the Peroorkada police, alleging that her relatives took her baby away— a child she had with Ajith who was married to another woman then. He got divorced later. She had filed a complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M) district leadership, too.
As per the complaint, the child was found missing three days after the delivery on October 19, 2020. As the baby was born out of wedlock, her family had tried to cover up the same and decided to take away the child, it stated. Anupama has alleged that her relatives had promised her that the baby would be brought back once her sister got married. But the baby was not brought back even after the wedding. Following this, Anupama left her home in April and started living with Ajith. Later, they got married officially after Ajith got a divorce from his first wife.
Later, they jointly lodged a complaint with the police.
Anupama’s father, however, said the baby was handed over to the Child Welfare Committee with her consent as she was not capable of taking care of the baby at that time. He added that they had obtained a consent letter, attested by the notary, from her before taking the child. When Anupama lodged the complaint, her family had shown the letter to the police as evidence, he said.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George called Anupama on phone and assured her all support. “I am also a mother. Will definitely take all possible actions to help Anupama,'' the minister reportedly told Anupama.
CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat, to whom Anupama had filed the complaint first, told the media on Saturday that the party was with the mother. “It’s a complicated case. But what happened was totally wrong. It's a tragedy of immense proportions. Anupama should get her child,'' she said.
The opposition— both the Congress and the BJP—took to streets demanding action against those who erred in Anupama's case. There were protest marches in different parts of the state expressing solidarity to Anupama. “It’s a shame to the LDF government that a mother has to go on hunger strike for her baby. The CM should hang his head in shame,'' said Congress leader K. Muraleedharan.
The case, meanwhile, took a new turn on Saturday with former wife of Ajith—Naziya— telling the media that Anupama was aware of the decision to give the kid up for adoption. “She and my ex-husband had been pestering me for a divorce. When I refused to give divorce, they both decided to give the kid up for adoption,'' she said. The case, however, has got the ruling CPI(M) scrambling for explanations at a time when the party was making a conscious effort to give more prominence to women in its party structure. CPI(M) state secretary Vijayaraghavan said that the party was with Anupama. “If there have been any lapses on the part of party leaders, we will look into it,'' he said.
