Dutch moves court to trace Indian roots

A 34-year-old Dutch national has approached the Bombay High Court for help in locating her roots in India, alleging that she was probably kidnapped as an infant and given up for international adoption.

A 34-year-old Dutch national has approached the Bombay High Court for help in locating her roots in India, alleging that she was probably kidnapped as an infant and given up for international adoption.

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Daksha Van Dijck, a clinical psychologist who worked as a scientist at Maastricht University, has filed a petition saying she suspected she was kidnapped in 1975 and given up for adoption by Shraddhanand Mahilashram in Matunga.

A division bench on Tuesday directed the state to file a reply in two weeks. Dijck was adopted by Johan Van Dijck in 1975 through Wereldkinderen, an adoption agency in Hague.

After her first visit to India in 2001, Dijck tried locating her biological parents through Wereldkinderen. She returned to India in 2007 with her husband and approached Shraddhanand Mahilashram. "The office bearers were totally uncooperative in furnishing any details about her [Dijck] adoption and her biological parent/parents," her petition alleges.

Dijck then approached Wereldkinderen, which allowed her to see her file. The file, however, did not have details about her biological parents or any declaration that she had been abandoned, the petition says.

Pradeep Havnur, Dijck's advocate, said Wereldkinderen had registered complaint with the Matunga police on February 2, 2009 because Shraddhanand Mahilashram was not cooperating.

Rakesh Kapoor, advocate for Shraddhanand Mahilashram, said, "Those days, there was no system to get authentic information of the parent who was relinquishing a child. We have no reason to hide anything from her but she is chasing something that does not exist."

Dijck's petition requests the court to direct the police or the Criminal Investigation Department or Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate Wereldkinderen's 2009 complaint.