Malappuram: The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) here allowed a fourteen-year-old rape survivor to take care of her one-and-half-year-old son. The POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) case survivor has been living at a shelter home at Manjeri in Malappuram district separated from her son over the past five months.
Recently, reports had emerged about the plight of the minor mother and her infant, attracting the attention of the CWC. The reports had said that the infant was even denied breast milk.
Meanwhile, the POCSO case survivor’s aunt filed an application with CWC expressing her willingness to protect her and the infant. Subsequently, permission was granted allowing the survivor with her close relative. However, the CWC took the stand that the infant would continue under its protection, which caused much distress to the survivor.
The reports had also alleged that the survivor, who had studied only up to Class 5, was forced to sign a statement which said that she would live without her infant till she became an adult. When these reports sparked a controversy, the CWC changed its stand.
