Maneka asks to send abandoned Indian girl back home

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Tuesday asked the Indian envoy in Spain to take necessary steps to send back an Indian girl who was abandoned by her foster parents in the country.

She was reacting to a recent media report according to which a Spanish couple had abandoned the 13-year-old girl they adopted from an agency in Madhya Pradesh after they were allegedly deceived about her age.

The couple was reportedly told that the girl was seven-years-old at the time of adoption earlier this year.

Noting that the ministry is in the process of "fixing" the responsibility for the "lapses" which happened on the part of the childcare institution in Bhopal, Gandhi asked Indian Ambassador to Spain D B Venkatesh Varma to contact the girl immediately and take necessary steps to send her back to India.

"While we are in the process of fixing the responsibility for the lapses which happened on the part of the Child Care Institution in Bhopal, I am worried about the state of the girl who is currently in foster care in some institution in Madrid," Gandhi said.

The Union minister said the girl, on her return, would be placed under care and protection in a local agency.

"I also understand that the Centre Adoption Resource Agency is in touch with you. It has been ascertained that the girl wants to return to India. I request you to contact the girl immediately and take necessary steps to send her back to India where we will place her under care and protection of a suitable local agency," she added.