Adoption Dispute in Jagtial Highlights Child’s Distress

A viral video showing a three-year-old boy crying and pleading to return to the couple who raised him has brought renewed attention to the emotional toll of adoption disputes.

In the Jagtial case, Kasarapu Srinivas and Saritha took the child into their care when he was five days old, in November 2023. After a complaint questioned the legality of the adoption, the Child Welfare Committee placed him in a child care institution in Karimnagar on September 16. 

The High Court ordered the restoration of interim custody on October 16. After the video went viral and the couple approached the district administration, the child was



reunited with them on November 2.

The state has since approached the High Court seeking a stay on the interim custody order. The matter has been adjourned to November 18.

Vijay Gopal, an advocate at the Telangana High Court and a social activist, said the child’s distress should not overshadow the need to establish whether the adoption was legally valid and who his rightful guardians are.

“Just because a child is crying, it does not give legal validity to an adoption that may have been carried out illegally. We cannot expect the court to overlook procedural violations on grounds of sympathy,” he said.