Tribal man gives away sons after wife’s death, then seeks them back

UNABLE TO take care of six sons after his wife’s death, a member of Savar tribe — a Primitive Tribal Group — had given away two of them to childless couples. While one of them is three years old, the other is three months old. A week ago, Bhota Savar (35) approached police, seeking recovery of his sons. The three-year-old has been handed over to him. However, a formal process has been initiated for the infant’s adoption by one of the couples, said officials.

The incident has been reported in Dumaria area of Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district.

Police said Bhota’s wife died 45 days ago, weeks after giving birth to the infant. Recently, a Hindi daily carried a story on Bhota’s plight, said DSP Ajit Kumar Vimal. “The report quoted him as sayingthathewasnotinaposition to take care of his sons and would like someone to adopt them. Soon after, two couples visited him and took away the children.” A week ago, Bhota requested police to recover his sons. “Fellow villagers had told him that the couples might not take good care of them.”

“The elder one was traced to Chatra, while the infant had been taken away by a couple from Potka. The couple who took away the infant has appeared before District Child Welfare Committee and a formal adoption process has been initiated. There seems to be no ill-intention on the part of either side. The only thing that was done incorrectly was that a formal adoption process was not followed,” added Vimal. CWC member Prabha Jaiswal said: “The infant is weak and has been hospitalised. Bhota does not appear to be in a position to take care of it. The couple is more capable.”

BDO Mrityunjay Kumar said: “Bhota has an Indira Awas and ration card. But, he earns a living by picking and selling forest wood.”