H M Chaithanya Swamy By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: It was a moment of joy for mother and son when they were reunited on Saturday. Distraught mother Jayasheela, who was unable to take custody of her six-year-old son for four months, after he went missing and surfaced at the Government Home (Shishu Mandir), couldn’t stop hugging him. “I want to be with my mother,” said the boy after his release from the home.

TNIE had reported Jayasheela’s plight on Friday in an article titled, ‘Missing child found in government home, yet mom battles for custody’. Jayasheela, a resident of Katriguppe, had said that she had been running behind the authorities and they had not let her see her son or sent him back home citing her poor financial status.

On Saturday, the Child Welfare Committee-3 (CWC), headed by chairperson Nagarathna R, passed an order to release the boy from Shishu Mandir, but only after giving directions to the mother to send the boy to the school and not to be negligent towards his upbringing and also ensure that she will not leave her children on the streets again.

However, CWC objected to a few statements that she had made to TNIE. According to CWC, the mother was never stopped from meeting her son. During the hearing on Saturday, CWC officials said that the mother had not informed them about her son having epilepsy, while she claimed that she had submitted reports.

Officials said that they had not said that they would not hand over the son’s custody to Jayasheela but they intended to examine if she would be able to provide for the son and his education as she had two other sons who had stopped going to school.

They said that they wanted her to leave her two sons with an NGO providing education and then take care of her six-year-old. They said that Jayasheela had not informed them that her son was enrolled in a government school. “Why would we keep him so long if he was enrolled in school,” they asked.A team appointed by the committee went to Jayasheela’s house on February 15 and conducted a home study report, in which they found that she was living with a meagre income. According to officials, on Friday, Jayasheela said that she was okay with the children being taken to a hostel, but she denied this on Saturday.

CWC officials stressed that they had searched for the parents of many children who had come to Bengaluru from other states, and that their only intention was to give shelter and education to

Jayasheela’s children.

Boy speaks

The boy told TNIE and CWC officials that he wants to be with his mother. Despite having new friends in Shishu Mandir and being provided good food, education and reform activities, he opted to stay with his poor mother and go to the government school near his house. The moment the boy met his mother, he hugged her with joy and asked about his brothers and friends near his home.