Sunali Khatun with her son Apon and daughter right after her son’s birth in Jan (file picture)
The problem is compounded by the fact that Delhi Police , who had rounded up Sunali, Danish, their minor son, and three others in June 2025 and deported them, seized their original documents — Aadhaar, PAN card, and ration card — and never returned them, she added.
Advocate Raghunath Chakraborty, Sunali’s lawyer in the habeas corpus matter, said Aadhaar is not mandatory for a birth certificate. Children of single mothers have received birth certificates,” he said. “Any official document belonging to a parent is sufficient.
Danish was repatriated in July 2026.
My two other children are also being deprived of nutrition,” Sunali said, adding that Apon’s vaccines are being administered regularly at the local govt health facility. the family faces a cascade of exclusions: no rations, no Annapurna Yojana, no Ayushman Bharat card, no old-age pension, no housing under Awas Yojana, no job card While Sunali waits for Apon’s documents. They live under a dilapidated mud roof covered with plastic sheets that leak when it rains. “Work is irregular. Often we skip one meal. The baby falls ill frequently but we don’t have money for medicines.
She gave birth to Apon at Rampurhat Medical College on Jan 5.
Yet the hospital has refused to process the birth certificate, citing a missing “Sheikh” beside her husband Danish’s name in his Aadhaar card printout, Sunali said.