Dear all,
I am a regular visitor to this site and would like to have the following clarification.I am raising a girl child who is the biological daughter of my uncle's sister. The child's parents are physically disabled the father is lame and the mother is half deaf and mute.They also have an elder daughter of marraigable age. They live in a village with no proper source of income and the father is an alcoholic. This child was born in Bangalore and for seven months the father did not come to see the child because it was a girl.My uncle and aunt began raising this child and had obtained a guardianship note signed by the father and were staying near my house.This child used to spend most of her time with us as we were also childless we started taking care of this child. My aunt's sudden demise left us with no option but to continue taking care of this child as our own and this arrangement has continued since the last 13 years. The child believes me to be her father and my estarnged wife(we are fighting a divorce case filed by my wife) as her mother.We have also treated the child as our own daughter and had in fact been asking my uncle to help us adopt it. The biological parents have not visited the child even once and they acknowledge that she is their daughter only when we meet at some common place or functions. They had initially asked for the child back but have stopped asking it since many years. The child is now in 8th standard and to cut a long story short I would want clarity on the following issues:
1. Can I legally adopt the child now as I am fighting a divorce case with my wife?
2. Can my daughter assert her rights to stay with us as the biological parents had deserted her or had not been in touch with her since 13 years?
3. I am financially stable and am ready to take care of her further responsibilities like higher education, marraige etc which her parents currently cannot. Can this work in my favour?
4. In one instance the biological father had deserted his wife and elder daughetr and they were kept in a PG in Bangalore by my uncle and taken care of. Will the law take cognisance of the irresponsibilioty of the father and grant me the rights of this child?
5. Any other points which might not have crossed my mind.
Needless to say this child is the only source of my emotional support. Please help me in getting her adopted.
