Orphans' adoption racket bared

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

A racket in the adoption of orphaned children has been exposed following the detection of a fake birth certificate of a child at a leading school in Colombo, a spokesman for the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) told the "Sunday Observer."

The NCPA has launched an investigation on an incident where a girl was admitted to the first grade of a leading Girls' school at Borella with a forged birth certificate. According to the forged certificate, she was born on December 26, 2004, the day of the tsunami disaster.

The girl's father and mother whom the NCPA suspects as not genuine parents have been questioned in this regard.

The couple had posed off as her parents when the child was being admitted to the school. The couple had furnished their address as residents of second division Maradana. The couple was produced in Court and granted bail until investigations are completed.

The NCPA launched an investigation following information that the girl had been a victim of the tsunami disaster in 2004. "We are looking for the genuine parents of the child," NCPA sources said. The NCPA has received a large number of complaints regarding missing children during the tsunami disaster in 2004.