Mumbai: Amid the lockdown, a Delhi-based couple is unable to meet their son, whose 'adoption' is linked to a human trafficking racket because of which police have lodged the boy at a children's welfare home in Mumbai.
The parents claimed to have adopted the boy from Mumbai four years back, but police say it is a case of human trafficking, in which they caught six couples and some 'intermediaries'.
Before the lockdown, the three-and-a-half-year old boy's parents came here from Delhi and used to meet him daily at the Chembur-based children's welfare home.
But after the lockdown came into force in March, the couple flew back to Delhi and are now only able to have a 10- minute video call with their son in a day.
"I have an 18-year-old daughter and I adopted the boy through one Pawan Sharma in November 2016," the boy's adoptive father told PTI.
He said Sharma assured proper documentation of the adoption and in January 2017, he provided the child's birth certificate, saying it is the "final document".
"In 2018, Sharma also helped one of my relatives get a child in Delhi. However, all of a sudden, in July 2019, Mumbai Crime Branch officials landed at my sister's place and claimed that I adopted the child illegally," he said.
"On July 7, I along with my relative who had also taken a child from Sharma reached Mumbai and appeared before the Crime Branch to take custody of both the children.
However, our sons were sent to the children's home and we were arrested," he said.
The man said he was able to secure bail after a few months and approached the Bombay High Court along with his relative and four other Mumbai-based parents, who were arrested for similar offences.
In November 2019, the Bombay High Court issued an order to check the credentials of all the six parents and they were allowed to meet the children at the welfare home every day from noon to 4 pm, he said.
"On that basis, we kept meeting our children from October last year till March 21. We also filed for legal adoption in a sessions court while a petition to quash the police FIR is pending before the high court," he said.
The man said after the lockdown, he flew back to Delhi and is now able to make only a 10-minute video call in a day to his son.
When contacted, a Mumbai Crime Branch official told PTI that they busted the human trafficking racket in July last year and caught six couples who "bought" children.
"At least nine intermediaries were involved in the racket, including nurses from hospitals in poor localities, surrogate mothers and employees at IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) centres. We had also arrested the alleged 'mastermind', Pawan Sharma, who is a Delhi resident," he said.
Sharma, the six couples and the intermediaries are currently out on bail, he said, adding that a charge sheet is likely to be filed soon in the case.
