I have been trying to tell a story for many days now. What has been holding me back? The reluctance of the people involved in having their lives made public. In fact, they are still not willing to come out into the open. There is no need to spin a lurid story out of the lives of these young twins, my social activist friend says emphatically. This friend has been closely related with the riddle for the past many months.
There will be no names in this story, for very obvious reasons. The fight is yet to begin and those involved wouldn’t like to spoil it this early. This is not an unfamiliar story for those who have an insight into the world of destitute children. I must tell you before I start that the twins in question are in safe hands, though their present guardians are clueless about their future. The organisation where these children are currently sheltered is far from being just another destitute shelter. Their ‘home’ is pleasant and blooming with warmth.
Several months ago, the police found these angel-faced twins on a street, abandoned by their parents. The children were fortunate enough to land in caring hands. The whole routine of enquiry and investigation started then. Those running the shelter tried to locate the parents of these abandoned children. The parents were out there, somewhere. Police records showed that the couple had some kind of criminal history, and that they were in prison when these babies were found on the road. As per the existing legal system, the parental rights of the couple are still intact. But nobody knows where he or she is. Neither parent has approached the police or the shelter home to demand custody of the children.
Now for the legal records. There is a criminal case pending against the couple for abandoning their children. Under the Indian Penal Code, Section 317 prescribes a seven-year prison term for parents or caretakers who abandon children under 12 years of age. With every passing day, the twins are getting further entangled in a web of legalities. No one can adopt them, because legally, they are not orphans. They cannot stay at the shelter home beyond a certain age - the law doesn’t approve. They will be ‘transferred’ to a remand home. We all know that there is nothing reassuring about government-run remand homes in this State. The way out might be to find foster parents willing to take them in. But even so, the legal status of the children does not change. Their natural parents still retain the right to claim their custody till they attain majority as per the law.
Legal wrangles can be fought. But there are certain human issues here that go beyond the dry legal frame. There are issues about raising a growing child that law cannot deal with. I didn’t meet the twins since they were away at school when I visited their home. “They have their highs and lows,” says my friend. One is extremely reclusive. The other is a live wire, full of questions.
The trauma is yet to begin. These children are a challenge for the entire juvenile justice system. There are many socially aware people who nurse abandoned children, raise them with love and compassion and seek a secure future for them. Why should these twins be denied good and safe parentage? Just to ensure that the line drawn by a bunch of people we have elected to make policies is toed? Most of them are anyway busy fighting non-issues in assemblies and Parliament. I’ve no answer to this conundrum, but I know that together we will have to find one. After all, these twins too are part of tomorrow’s India
(First published in the Maharashtra Herald on August 11, 2005)
No comments:
Post a Comment