Gurgaon: Child care centre’s caretaker arrested after evading arrest for four months

Hindustan Times had earlier carried reports on the illegal adoption of two minors

The 65-year-old caretaker of a child care Institute (CCI) in Gurgaon was arrested on Sunday night on charges of handing over children under her custody for adoption against the norms. She is also accused of child trafficking and was booked under relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and the IPC.

The CCI came under the scanner in February this year for accepting two minor girls and releasing them for adoption against the rules of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015. (Parveen Kumar/HT FILE)

Sister Lilly Baretto was arrested from a church in Sukhdev Vihar, Delhi, on Sunday night after technical surveillance, said the police. She had been evading arrest for last three months and had changed several locations and mobile numbers.

The CCI came under the scanner in February this year for accepting two minor girls and releasing them for adoption against the rules of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015.

The incident came to light after HT reported the illegal adoption case of two minors.

Baretto’s assistant sister Lilly Coehlo (63) and Ajay Lama (21) were also arrested from Hayatpur, Gurgaon on Sunday, the police said. The accused were produced before the duty magistrate and were sent to judicial custody on Monday.

Four cases were filed against sister Lilly Baretto and her accomplice under sections 75 and 80 of the Juvenile Justice Act and 370 (trafficking), 420 (fraud), 467 (forgery of valuable security) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and other sections of the IPC at Sector 4 police post, Sector 10-A and Sector 9 police stations in July this year.

Baretto is the caretaker of two child care institutes in sector 4 and Hayatpur village.

The JJ Act stipulates that no child can be handed over or accepted by CCIs as it is the mandate of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) only. During a visit on June 3, the teams found two more girls despite the fact that the institute is no more registered and has been closed by the CWC.

“The CCI has been found guilty of cruelty to children, employing children at child home, and not providing all information. The religion of over 10 children is believed to have been changed as the documents mentioned sister Baretto as the girls’ mother and Baretto’s father as the girls’ father,” said Shakuntala Dhull, chairperson, CWC.

Read I Gurgaon orphanage under scanner for allowing ‘illegal’ child adoption

The CCI informed the CWC that the two children had been adopted. However, as there was no record available about their whereabouts, the CWC recommended action against the CCI.

“We were conducting raids at several places but she kept on changing her location. Finally, on Sunday we succeeded in locating her in a church. She has accepted her involvement in illegal adoption and also revealed that she was involved in forging birth certificates and child trafficking for monetary benefits,” said inspector Sandeep Kumar, SHO Sector 10-A police station.