Hyderabad: A viral video showing a three-year-old boy crying and pleading to return to the couple who raised him has brought renewed attention to the emotional toll of adoption disputes.
In the Jagtial case, Kasarapu Srinivas and Saritha took the child into their care when he was five days old, in November 2023. After a complaint questioned the legality of the adoption, the Child Welfare Committee placed him in a child care institution in Karimnagar on September 16. The High Court ordered the restoration of interim custody on October 16. After the video went viral and the couple approached the district administration, the child was reunited with them on November 2.
The state has since approached the High Court seeking a stay on the interim custody order. The matter has been adjourned to November 18.
Vijay Gopal, an advocate at the Telangana High Court and a social activist, said the child’s distress should not overshadow the need to establish whether the adoption was legally valid and who his rightful guardians are.
“Just because a child is crying, it does not give legal validity to an adoption that may have been carried out illegally. We cannot expect the court to overlook procedural violations on grounds of sympathy,” he said.
Child rights activist Heena Khan said the rights and circumstances of the biological family must also be considered. “Child protection mechanisms must ensure that children are not transferred between families without following due legal procedures, as this could leave them caught in prolonged custody disputes,” she said.
Gopal said an investigation should establish the child’s biological parentage and identify his rightful legal guardian. “DNA testing and examination of available records could help establish the facts,” he said. Eligible relatives, including the maternal grandmother, should also be considered, subject to legal requirements and consent, he added.
Gopal said the child should be removed from the alleged offenders to prevent his emotional attachment to them from growing. He also said the circumstances surrounding the adoption and any procedural violations should be examined, rather than allowing sympathy to determine the outcome.
Clinical psychologist Aruna Khatri said the emotional impact of separating a young child from familiar caregivers should not be overlooked. “At this age, children may not understand why they have been separated or the legal circumstances behind it. Their primary caregivers are the people they associate with safety and familiarity. A sudden separation can cause confusion, anxiety and insecurity,” she said.
Repeated changes in caregivers and living environments could also affect a child’s emotional security, she said. Any change in custody should be handled sensitively, with psychological support and a stable caregiving arrangement.
“Nobody likes to do this; it’s painful for every party involved. The least one can do is handle it with utmost sensitivity and abide by the law,” she said.
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