Don't deny fundamental rights to mother and child: HC

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has overturned the Idukki District Child Welfare Committee’s decision to deny breastfeeding rights to the one-and-a-half-year-old child of estranged parents. Observing that breastfeeding is a fundamental right of the mother, and drinking breast milk is a fundamental right of the child, the High Court ruled that this right cannot be denied and ordered that the child be handed over to the mother immediately. The court directed the Station House Officer of Kumily Police Station to ensure the child was handed over to the mother. Justice VG Arun delivered this significant ruling on a petition filed by a young mother who had separated from her husband due to domestic abuse and is now living with another person. The court also emphasized that moral issues, such as with whom the mother is living, should not be considered when making decisions in such matters.

After childbirth, the young woman returned to her parental home with her child following a dispute with her husband. She later began living with the second husband of her mother-in-law. Citing this situation, her husband filed a complaint, upon which the District Child Welfare Committee ordered that the child be handed over to him. The woman approached the High Court challenging this decision, arguing that she had separated from her husband due to physical and emotional abuse, was unable to live with him, and requested custody of her child.

The woman argued that the Child Welfare Committee's order to place the child with the father, based on her living arrangements, was incorrect. The court accepted her argument, observing that the Committee's decision reflected moral bias.

"The committee did not consider the fact that the child was breastfeeding. It is distressing that the child has been separated from the mother’s care for a month. It is a denial of natural justice," the court observed.