Abandoned by all, Indian boy finds Italian home

NEW DELHI - He may have failed to find an Indian home, but an abandoned two-year-old boy with African features is finally set to get a loving family. A Delhi court has allowed an Italian couple to adopt him.

Little Partha, who has been living in Mamata care centre in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area, had not attracted any Indian family in India or abroad for adoption apparently because of his African looks.

But District Judge Rakesh Kapoor Jan 14 appointed Italian national Germano Giuseppe and his wife Boschetto Michela to be guardians of Partha. The court said: “The duo are also permitted to remove the child outside the jurisdiction of this court to their country.”

The court directed the Italian couple to execute a surety bond of Rs.500,000 with an undertaking to present the child, through the agency, before the court as and when required and to send his quarterly progress reports to it.

They were also told to file the progress reports before “the Indian Council For Child Welfare, until his adoption is complete or he attains the age of majority, whichever is earlier”.

Giuseppe, an architect, and his biologist wife, both residents of Italy, came to know about the boy during their trip to Delhi in December last year.

The Italian couple approached the court Dec 13, 2010, through their attorney Kamla Lekhwani, adoption officer at Mamata centre, run by the social organisation Children of the World. Partha was with her at that time.

On behalf of the Italian couple, Lekhwani approached the court seeking custody of the minor child under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.

In their petition, the two disclosed that they had been married since July 7, 2004. They could not have their own biological child due to medical reasons and wanted to adopt Partha from India.

They said in their petition they wanted to take the child outside the jurisdiction of the court and adopt him according to the local laws of their country.

After the petition was moved before the court, the Indian Council for Child Welfare Committee stated that Partha (born Feb 7, 2009) was transferred from Sewa Bharti Matri Chhaya, Delhi, to Mamta centre July 6, 2010.

Mercy Samuel, a social worker of Mamta centre at Dwarka, also declared that he was an abandoned child and free for adoption. She testified that no Indian family living in India or abroad, came forward to adopt the child because he is dark and has strong African features.

She also told the court that she had no objection if the two Italians were appointed as guardians of the child.

The court, while allowing the Italian couple to adopt the child, noted that for the year 2010, Giuseppe and his wife had a gross annual family income of euro 72,500 (around Rs.45 lakh) and were capable of maintaining themselves and the child.