Case worker terminated from post in child death case, State informs Kerala HC

The Department of Women and Child Development has informed the Kerala High Court that the services of the worker, who handled the case of a 18-month-old child in Nedumangad who succumbed to his injuries from alleged abuse by his stepfather, was terminated.

A suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) was initiated after receiving reports on the child’s death.

The department had found serious lapses in the worker’s duty to register the case and take immediate steps to save the child. 

The department also stated that a charge memo would be issued to the immediate supervisor of the child helpline, and ‘swift disciplinary action’ would be taken after evaluating his explanation.

The department would also consider initiating disciplinary action to cancel the deputation of the District Child Protection Officer overseeing the local Child Helpline operations. 

Additionally, the State government informed the court that substantial progress had been made in the investigation and that a comprehensive chargesheet would be filed before the Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) Special Court at Nedumangad, within the mandated time.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar had registered the PIL to inquire into the protection of children from severe instances of domestic abuse and the breakdown of child welfare alerts.

The court had considered two incidents of child deaths due to abuse while initiating the PIL. First, a minor child had succumbed to his injuries after being physically abused by his mother’s partner in Thodupuzha in 2019. The second instance was the death of the child in Nedumangad, who had sustained severe internal injuries allegedly caused by prolonged physical abuse. In both cases, it was noted that the children were treated in hospitals, but no reports were made to the authorities concerned. 

Through a letter, Justice Devan Ramachandran had brought the Chief Justice’s attention to a report that the grandmother of the child in Nedumangad had allegedly informed the Child Protection Unit regarding the alleged torture, but there had been no effective intervention. The suo motu petition was registered based on this letter, and the matter will be considered again on July 29.