One of the three local children who were abandoned at an orphanage in India has been brought back to Maldives on Wednesday night.
Three children, whose father is from Alif Alif Atoll Ukulhas island and mother is of Indian nationality, were left at an orphanage after their mother took them to India claiming they were going on a “holiday”, sources have said.
The child who returned to Maldives was the eldest sibling, who is 12-years-old. The younger siblings are eight, and seven years old.
The eldest child had informed the Maldivian embassy that they want to go back to Maldives, and their mother had to comply, a relative of the children’s father revealed.
‘Avas’ is aware that the children were forcibly taken by their mother in 2013 and were left in the orphanage without the knowledge of their father.
The children’s father had contacted the Indian authorities and got them out of the orphanage; however, he was unable to bring his children back as their mother was refusing to send them, his relatives said.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) on Monday also said that they are investigating the case, and overseeing what other state insitutions are doing regarding the case. The commission was unable to give any further information as they are still investigating the matter.
Other media outlets reported that they children were mistreated at the orphanage and that they suffered numerous injuries during the time they spent there. Further, in an exclusive ‘Raajje TV’ aired about the children, all three of them had admitted that they all want to return back to Maldives.
