Mother fights to reclaim son allegedly sold by baby-selling racket operator

Yash Malvani and Tanya Arlappan. Pic/Navneet Bharate

Circumstances forced me to give up guardianship of my baby, but Julia Fernandes manipulated all the documents and sold my son to someone. I just want my baby back," said Tanya Arlappan, the biological mother of a three-year-old boy, who was allegedly sold by Julia Fernandes, whose links recently emerged in a baby-selling racket busted by the Matunga police.

Arlappan and her advocate, Edith Dey, have been running from pillar to post to regain custody of the now three-year-old since 2021. mid-day has continuously highlighted the involvement of Julia Fernandes, who allegedly manipulates documents needed to adopt children from the city civil court. She is the prime suspect in several baby-selling rackets throughout the city.

"In 2021, I was pregnant and unmarried. I was scared to tell my parents, so I decided to give up guardianship of my baby. I met Julia Fernandes, who assured me the baby would be in safe hands, but she manipulated me. She forged all my documents and sold the baby to his adoptive parents. Now, the matter is in the high court because I want my baby back," Arlappan said.

Arlappan met Fernandes when she was five months pregnant. "I met her at Shivaji Park in Dadar, and she assured me she would give the baby back. She gave examples of American foster care. But when I asked for my baby back, she gave unsatisfactory answers and even tried to bribe me. Fernandes sent goons to threaten me," Arlappan said. "She told us that she owns Aham Foundation, through which she could give guardianship of the baby to someone else," Tanya added.

According to Arlappan, Julia asked her then-boyfriend (now husband) to do a photoshoot of a Hindu marriage for the baby's birth certificate. "My son's guardianship process began on July 16, 2021, just two days after he was born. Fernandes forged all the documents. She told us I needed to be married to initiate the guardianship process. She arranged everything, took us to a temple, had my husband Yash put a garland on me, and we took photos with a box that had no fire. She then used those photos to create a marriage certificate, which she used to make my son's birth certificate. All of these documents are forged; I got married in December 2021.

I am a practising Christian and married my boyfriend, now husband Yash Malvani, in 2021. We have all the proper documents in place," Arlappan said. "My client is a practising Christian, not a Hindu. Julia gave the adoptive parents the child under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA). This went against Fernandes, as a Christian baby cannot be adopted under HAMA," Edith Dey, advocate for Tanya Arlappan, said.

The adoptive parents approached the city civil court, but their adoption was rejected. They have now appealed to the high court. "The adoptive parents have gone to the high court, and they want me to stop calling myself a Christian," Arlappan said. Explaining the legal aspect, Dey said, "The adoptive parents told the court that Arlappan must be estopped from calling herself a Christian. We have challenged that, and the matter is now in court." According to the Matunga police, it's too early to determine whether Fernandes is linked to the baby-selling racket.

"Her name came up during the investigation of Sandhya Rajput, but it's too premature to say if she is connected to the racket," an officer said. Arlappan wants her baby back. "After giving birth, I have not seen my baby. I just want my baby back," she said.