Manusha, a Class 4 student in Kerala’s Kozhikode, is one of the thousands affected by the floods which have ravaged the state and killed over 100 people. She had been living in a shack with her father and brothers but her shelter was washed away by the floodwaters. Later, her father collapsed due to high blood pressure in a relief camp and could not be revived.
Manusha and her brothers had nowhere to go after the relief camp they had taken shelter in closed. They could also not contact their mother who had abandoned them some time back. A few representatives of Mavoor Panchayat offered to give the kids shelter at an old-age home on a temporary basis.
Her story was posted on the Facebook page ‘Manushyan4u’, asking people to help the kids. The post currently has over 5.5k shares and over 200 comments. After the post went viral, hundreds came forward from across the world and offered to adopt the girl.
Jatheesh P, a 38-year-old businessman from Alapuzzha also commented on Facebook that he and his wife were ready to adopt the children as they had no children of their own. He told TNIE,
“I took the decision to adopt her after discussing it with my wife. We are serious. I am coming to Kozhikode on Thursday.”
However, the District Child Protection Committee said that no adoption can take place online. Couples have to first register at the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), which is a nation-wide online system which screens potential parents who need to have legally-owned property. An official at CARA told TNIE,
“There are 1,200 couples waiting in the state after registering with CARA. It would take a minimum of one-and-a-half years to finish the procedures of adoption.”
A total of 104 people lost their lives across the state in floods and landslides, triggered by the second spell of monsoon, since August 8, a government update said. Though people have started shifting to their homes in many places, there are 1,75,373 still sheltered in 1,057 relief camps. According to the government update, a total of 11,901 houses have been partially damaged and 1115 fully damaged.
