Marital discord, extra marital affairs, divorces are all actions of adults; the repercussions which unfortunately are mostly borne by minors. Parents involved in such activities tend to ignore the interests of their wards, leading to child abandonment. As per the law, child abandonment symbolizes the act of deserting a child younger than 18 years of age, inappropriately for a stipulated period of time without any adult supervision. If the abandoned child referred to legally as a foundling has no contact with the parent during the determined span of time, the respective parents are offenders in the eyes of the law.

It is the moral responsibility of every citizen to inform the concerned authorities about the whereabouts of an abandoned child. Such children are easily recognizable as those wandering about recklessly in the neighborhood without any supervision. The severity of the felony under the child abandonment law is influenced by certain aspects that include the age and health of the abandoned child, the place and duration for which the child is abandoned, the prevailing circumstances during the act of abandonment, other surrounding factors that could pose a threat to the child's life, the physical and mental condition of the supervisor, if any, and the validity of the reasons furnished by the parent for abandonment.

Child abandonment resulting in any form of physical injury or causing mental distress could hold the parents guilty of homicide, manslaughter and aggravated abuse or custodial sentence. Many states increasingly are resorting to the legalization of child abandonment. Although this legalization may put a question mark on the moral responsibility of the human race but the judicial system has a practical rationale for supporting the same. Such corroboration would probably decrease acts of child abandonment committed by parents who are forced to desert their children due to their insufficiencies.

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