ESI Hospital accepts ‘surrendered’ girl child,summoned by CWC

As per hospital records accessed by Newsline,the unwed mother signed a printed consent form,routinely used for surgical consent,immediately after the delivery of the child on June 18 this year.

“Meri shaadi nahi hui hai. Main apni ladki ko anath ashram mein rakhne ke liye taiyar hoon. (I am not not married. I am ready to give my daughter to an orphanage),” she wrote on the form. She also mentioned on the form that she is aware that her daughter was born premature and would need extensive care.

“Bachche ki halat theek nahi. Nursery rakhna bataya gaya hai. (The child is unwell. We have been told she will need to be kept in the nursery),” she wrote.

As per the hospital discharge slip,an adoption agency accepted the child three months later,on September 9. This agency then contacted the CWC and informed them about the relinquishment.

As per the Central Adoption Resource Agency guidelines and Juvenile Justice Rules 2009,only the CWC has the authority to accept an unwanted child from parents. No agency,including hospitals,can allow parents to “sign” a consent and relinquish their child.

ESI Hospital authorities confirmed that they had accepted the surrender and were unaware “about this requirement”.

According to Dr S K Munjal,Medical Superintendent of ESI Hospital,“The mother gave her signed consent,so we accepted the child. She needed immediate medical care,since she was born premature. We did not know we had to contact the CWC to accept the child.”

The CWC order states that “by accepting the child in surrender,the hospital authorities have violated the Juvenile Justice Rule”. Rule 33(4) of the JJ Rules 2009 states that only the child welfare committees,set up as magisterial bodies,have the right to declare a child as surrendered and the CWC should be contacted in case anybody wishes to surrender a child.

The CWC order directs the Medical Superintendent of the ESI Hospital to “submit an explanation as to why the child was accepted by the staff as ‘surrendered’ child”.

In February,Newsline had reported two cases at Lok Nayak Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College,where parents had signed their consent and surrendered their newborn daughters. The CWC had later intervened and one of the girls was even reunited with her family.