Who will take the child home?
Five childless couples have applied to a Barishal court to adopt an abandoned baby girl who was recently recovered from beside a city street.
After holding a hearing Sunday, Mizanur Rahman, judge of the First Additional and Sessions Judge's Court and Juvenile Court, asked the couples to submit in the tune of Tk 10 lakh as proof of their financial ability and future security deposit for the child.
The court is set to give the final decision on January 1, 2019.
Nurul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model Police Station, said the child was found abandoned by an alley near Barishal City College on October 17 night. She was wrapped in cloth, he said. “She was weak, and we presumed her to be seven days old.”
Minara Begum, domestic help of a nearby residence, saw the child first and informed police with the help of a local journalist. After recovery, police placed the girl in the temporary care of local businessman Kamrul Ahasan Rupon, who was present on the spot at that time.
On October 24, government employee Mizanur Rahman and Ayesha Siddiki were the first couple to apply for adoption.
The court had accepted their prayer temporarily and was supposed to deliver an order on Sunday. But in the meantime, businessman Ekramul Chowdhury, also brother-in-law of Rupon, filed another appeal, leading to rescheduling of the process. Again, before hearing the appeals Sunday, three more couples showed up. The court then fixed January 1 for the final decision.
Multi-national company officer Afsanil Zahir, the only person from Dhaka, said, “He came to know about the matter from media. We didn't have any child from 16 years of our marriage. We'd like to have her.”
The other applicants are banker Abdul Bari Chowdhury and physician Dr Nazrul Islam.
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