High Court raps officials for failing to locate missing child

A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court ordered the police to find out a baby of a couple from Malda within 48 hours and asked the officials of the concerned departments to appear before the court on Friday.

The court also reprimanded the officials involved in the investigation including Child Welfare Committee, district ChildLine and the senior police officials for their inability to find out the baby who went missing from a state-run destitute home at Malda and threatened to put the investigators behind the bars if they fail to find out the baby within 48 hours failing which, action will be taken against them.

The Calcutta High Court has given a 48 hour deadline to trace the baby of the Malda couple. The Court will hear the case on Friday.

Joyshree Sarkar and Sushanta Sarkar from Malda had an underage marriage. Joyshree Sarkar delivered a baby in the nursing home. The mother was sent to a home and the baby was sent to ChildLine.

After being released, the mother had been running from pillar to post to trace her daughter. It has been alleged that the police, the district ChildLine officials and the child welfare committee did not cooperate with the woman.

According to Joyshree she was threatened by the police, ChildLine and CWC officials that she would be put behind bars if she continued her search for her daughter. She saw her daughter in December 2014 for the last time.

Later, the couple filed a case at Calcutta High Court. An APDR member helped them in this regard in filing a case in the court.

In another development, two persons were arrested in connection with children recovery case in Cooch Behar. Police said that accused identified as Sathi Arya and Siuli Das were suspected to have been involved in child trafficking.

Siuli Das used to work as an assistant to a local gynaecologist. They were remanded in police custody for 7 days after being produced before Cooch Behar court.Police said that two children were recovered from the possession of Sathi who claimed before the police that the babies were given 

to her by a gynaecologist for treatment.

There were irregularities in the statement of Sathi and she was arrested by the police.