Please help me. Take me to Odisha soon…” Adopted by a US-based woman when she was 13, video clips of a 21-year-old from Odisha, in which she could purportedly be seen appealing to the CM to bring her back to India, has prompted the local authorities to write to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) seeking their intervention in the matter.
The woman, seen speaking both in English and Odia, has alleged physical and mental torture by her foster mother. The woman, who identified herself as Puja, further accused her adoptive mother of forcing her to convert to Christianity.
In one of the videos, the woman could purportedly be heard saying: “I used to live in India…But since I came to America, I am not happy at all. When I was in India, I was so happy. And I wanna go. I request Mr Mohan Babu (CM Mohan Charan Majhi) to help me return to Odisha…”
In another clip, she is heard saying, “I am suffering a lot here. They are torturing me…”
In yet another clip, she said, “She (the adoptive mother) is a Christian. I am a Hindu girl. She is forcing me to convert to Christianity. When I refuse, she is harassing me.”
Local officials said the woman was adopted from a child care home in Bhubaneswar by an Indian-origin US-based single mother in 2018.
Officials said the Balasore district administration has also written to the MEA to reach out to the girl.
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When contacted, the SARA authorities in Bhubaneswar said, “We have taken up the issue with the MEA and requested them to pursue the matter through the Indian Embassy in the US and to explore what can be done in this matter.”
