Above: Police try to enter the premises of a Ranchi shelter run by Missionaries of Charity following an FIR lodged against child trafficking by nuns/Photo: UNI
Three years after it announced that it was pulling out of the work of caring for orphans up for adoption, a nun of Mother Teresa’s mission is charged with selling babies. What led to it?
~By Sujit Bhar
In an incident that sent shock waves across the country, two women associated with the Missionaries of Charity were arrested on July 5 by the police in Ranchi, selling babies. Sister Concilia Balsam and Anima Indwar, a helper-cum-social worker associated with the Ranchi chapter of the worldwide organisation, were held for selling three babies for Rs 50,000 each. Another baby was given away for “free”, reports said without giving any further details.
Sister N Prema, Mother Superior of the Missionaries of Charity, said in a press statement: “We are deeply saddened and grieved by the recent developments at Missionaries of Charity Home—Nirmal Hriday at East Jail Road, Ranchi… we wish to express regret and sorrow for what happened and desire to express in unequivocal terms our condemnation of individual actions which have nothing to do with the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity.”
However, trying to insulate the main organisation from the incidents and terming these as “individual actions”, seems nothing more than a search for a face-saver for the mission. A source who is in the know of developments at the mission told India Legal that following the death of Sister Nirmala, who was in charge after the passing away of Mother Teresa in 1997, not only has the overall discipline of the mission deteriorated, there has also been a rather steep fall in donations coming in from established international sources for the mission’s massive network.
In wanting to understand how this situation came to be, one has to take into account two developments. The first is the change of stance of the mission itself, and the second is the loose standards followed by the ministry of Women and Child Development. Minister Maneka Gandhi has ordered the immediate inspection of all child care homes run by the Missionaries of Charity, but the issue seems to be bigger than the three children sold.
The first signs of trouble were visible not long after the mission switched its focus and priorities. Late in 2015, the Missionaries of Charity simply withdrew from the adoption work they had been so lauded for after the Centre brought in amendments to the country’s adoption laws to enable single parents to adopt children. This, according to the mission, was against its Catholic principles. However, the pressure from the government was intense. Gandhi did not wait for parliament to pass the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, and notified the rules under the existing Act instead. Such legislation was essential, because, as per Indian laws, a child can only be put up for adoption after he/she is declared “free”; it effectively means that there are no encumbrances or possibility of objection from any existing parent/relatives of the child. This is a tedious and long process. According to latest available data, there are over 9,000 prospective parents willing and waiting to adopt a child, but there were only 800 “free” children available for adoption.
Gandhi’s target of 50,000 children being put up for adoption—there are thousands of children in adoption homes, but few are legally classified as adoptable, or “free”—is not only long on odds but also comes with a legal nightmare attached. Those in the know say that with demand high and supply very low, even a “price” of Rs 50,000 is a steal for anyone wanting to adopt a child. However, as per the law, babies simply cannot be sold. Adoption agencies benefit from adoption “fees”, which are also much higher for international adoption. With rate of adoption low, the illicit business has grown unchecked. Says a police official who would rather not be named: “Frankly, the sale of babies is rampant. Kidnappings are mostly for sale and less for turning into beggars these days. When the ‘price’ is right, there is no dearth of takers. Adoption rules in India are strict on paper, but there is no stopping a couple from getting hold of a baby and quickly bribing local municipalities to issue a birth certificate. And though there have been arrests, nobody wants to come out and file complaints. When such an incident happens at the Missionaries of Charity, it becomes worldwide news. ”
To this backdrop of a thriving illegal “market” for babies was added the funds crunch at the mission’s far-flung homes, plus the pressure of having to “dispose” of babies so that the mission can adhere to its religious norms. In the vacuum of a lax administration, said the source, such incidents were bound to happen.
Another factor is the incredibly complex regulatory framework that guides adoption in India. According to adoption lawyer Shireen Merchant, there is no window of choice for the prospective parents, especially in international adoption. First, prospective parents are presented with a choice of two, or at the most three, children to choose from. If they refuse, the parents go down in the adoption ladder and have to wait several months for the next turn. Second, if a child is rejected three times domestically, he/she can be put up for international adoption. Even there, prospective parents get just two children to choose from.
Moreover, as evident from the tragic death of the three-year-old Indian girl, Sherin Mathews (Saraswati in India), in Richardson town, Texas, US, there is no follow-up check either pre- or post-adoption. Sherin was adopted from Bihar in 2016 and taken to the US by her “parents”. A little over a year later, she was dead, killed by the Indian-American couple who had adopted her. “The backdrop is so pathetic,” says the source, that “cases of missing children are not even followed up, not even by the police. There is a huge underground network of child lifters/traffickers operating, associated with legal adoption agencies. Now the name of Mother Teresa’s organisation has been added to it”.
Last, there is the financial angle. Jharkhand police chief DK Pandey last week sent a request to the Union home secretary asking for permission to freeze the accounts of the mission to probe possible violations of foreign funding regulations. The centre has asked state governments to carry out an immediate inspection of all child care homes run by the mission. The mission’s spokesperson, Sunita Kumar, has said that the action was meant to “harass and financially trouble” the organisation. At the moment, however, that’s the least of the mission’s troubles.