‘Authorities did not prevent child being ordained as Jain sadhu’

YUVA came to know of the case on November 18 after an unknown person,possibly belonging to the child’s family,alerted the NGO. The NGO alerted the authorities concerned. “We decided to be at the spot and see if the process could be delayed. The family had filed a caveat before the Bombay High Court,” Mary said,adding that the complaint has been forwarded to the National Child Rights Commission.

Along with other NGO members,Mary reached the venue at 8.30 am on Wednesday,an hour before the scheduled ceremony. “But they had wrapped it up by then. The ceremony was rescheduled at the last minute,” Mary said.

The Bombay High Court has held back its order on a petition by Ashok Bagricha,father of a girl who was ordained as a Jain sadhvi in 2004 when she was eight. “The court has,for the past year,kept the petition for final hearing,” said Union government counsel Rui Rodrigues.

Since the petition is pending before the court,no one wants to intervene,said secretary of the commission A N Tripathi. “We received a written complaint but there is no question of us taking up the case when the HC is yet to decide on the petition,” he said.

A senior bureaucrat said in the absence of a stay order,authorities should have intervened. “Nothing stops the police or the state committees and commissions from acting,” the official said.

Ujjwal Uke,principal secretary of Women and Child Development department,said he would have to study the court’s stand on the issue. “I will take a look if there is any direction or stay order in the matter,” he said.

sukanya.shetty@expressindia.com