‘Many child abandonment cases fail to make it to govt records’

The data on abandoned children is scattered and unreliable, say stakeholders. From 2017 to 2019, U.P. recorded 424 cases of abandoned infants

LUCKNOW: Two cases of newborns being found abandoned and rescued were reported here in a week. Both babies were rescued by the police and Childline Lucknow and placed in the care of government shelter homes in the city.

One of them was a few days old and the other 8 months. Four new-borns, all girls, have been rescued in the state this year after abandonment, as per Childline.

“These are only the cases that are reported, there are many more that go unnoticed and do not make it to the government records,” said Sangeeta Sharma, director of Childline, Lucknow.

The data on abandoned children is scattered and unreliable, say stakeholders. From 2017 to 2019, UP recorded 424 cases of abandoned infants. There were 740 abandoned children in 2021 countrywide, of which two were from UP, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. The ‘Bal Swaraj’ portal set up by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights recorded 492 cases since April 2020.

As per Childline, 9 abandoned new-borns were rescued in Lucknow alone in 2021. “We get nearly 40-50 cases yearly,” said Asiya Raza, social worker with Rajkiya Bal Griha (Shishu) who looks after adoption procedures

We have come across shocking cases where newborns have been abandoned in polythene bags, sacks, or just discarded in parks.

SANGEETA SHARMA,

director, Childline

at the shelter.

To note, anyone who leaves a child in any place with the intention of abandoning it, stands to face up to 7 years of imprisonment or a fine, or both.

“We have come across shocking cases where newborns have been abandoned in polythene bags, sacks, or just discarded in parks. We had a case of a child who had maggots all over the body from being left in an unhygienic place. Very often, people take care to avoid abandoning children where CCTV cameras might be installed, so that they cannot be caught. Most are unaware of the provisions in place that can be availed when one is not equipped to raise a child,” said Sharma.

After a general diary has been filed once an abandoned child is rescued, the shelter home is supposed to wait two months, in case the family returns to claim the child, according to the Juvenile Justice Act. “But this almost never happens,” said Raza. “And after waiting two months, almost all of them are put up for adoption - the process takes about 5 to 6 months for a child to get adopted,” she said.