HC rescues baby offered by parents to godman

Cancels adoption of five-month-old

A petition to the Rajasthan High Court by the grandparents of a five-month-old baby saved the infant from being offered through adoption to a godman by none other than his parents.

Driven by superstition, the parents had wilfully offered the infant to Ram Dayal Maharaj alias Chota Sarkar at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh on July 23 for final adoption.

Irked by the decision, the grandparents moved a petition in the Rajasthan High Court which directed the parents to take charge of their infant with immediate effect.

Hearing the petition on Saturday, Justice Bela M Trivedi directed the parents to take charge of the infant.

The court directed that no one can stop maternal and paternal grandparents from meeting the infant. For the first time, the Rajasthan High Court held a hearing on a off-day.

Interestingly, both parents are well educated and live in Ajmer city of Rajasthan. Father Pawan is a builder while mother Dr Puja is a lecturer in a college. The couple have a seven-year-old son and the second son was born on February 8.

“The family was happy at the birth of the second son. Parents along with the grandmother decided to visit Dada Darbar Ashram in Khandwa to take blessings of Ram Dayal Maharaj. On returning to Ajmer, the parents decided to offer their baby to Ram Dayal. Grandparents opposed the decision and parents left their home to live in Jaipur separately,” said Amit Pareek, the advocate representing grandparents.

Pareek said Ram Dayal Maharaj runs several ashrams in north India and the family members were his disciples. The parents shifted to Jaipur so that they could contact the godman through one of his ashrams situated in the city.

The grandfather, a retired CRPF official, later filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court and said that his son and daughter-in-law had given their second son to Ram Dayal Maharaj who may sacrifice the five-month infant to gain supernatural powers.

“None of the family members know what went wrong with my son that he decided to donate his kid. My son informed the court that he is confident that Ram Dayal Maharaj will provide best of the education to his kid and later adopt him as legal heir. But no written assurance has been given by Maharaj,” said Rajendra Prasad Purohit, the grandfather.

Neither my son had taken any oath to donate his second child nor we had asked him to do so, he added.

Hearing the case, the court also expressed its doubts on the intention of the parents and the religious guru. The court said that it was up to the child to decide whether to become a religious guru or lead a family life. Till then, the parents will have to look after him.