Who is Ariha Shah, the Indian baby in Germany's foster care for last 20 months?

India has appealed to Germany to send Ariha Shah, an Indian baby being kept in foster care in Berlin, back to her home country. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Friday (2 June) that “they have been persistently advocating for the return of Ariha Shah to India”. The toddler was separated from her Indian parents and placed in the custody of Germany’s Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in 2021. What is the case about, what efforts have been made by the Indian government and what have the parents said? Let’s take a closer look. What is the Ariha Shah case? According to Hindustan Times (HT), Ariha was taken to a hospital in Germany by her parents after she was accidentally hurt by her grandparent. The injury was on the child’s “external perennial area or the outer genital area”, reported India Today. Suspecting it to be a case of sexual assault, the German authorities took away the baby from her parents on 23 September 2021 when she was just seven months old. Ariha has been living in foster care since then, with her parents being allowed a visit once every 15 to 20 days, reported News18.

After an investigation, assault charges were dropped but her parents – Dhara and Bhavesh Shah – were accused of negligence. While the case was closed without charges, the baby was not returned to her parents, as per the India Today report. Moreover, Berlin Child Services also filed a civil custody case for the termination of parental rights. The proceedings have started in the case. What has the government done? India has raised the issue with Germany several times, calling for the return of the child. In its latest statement, the MEA said: “Our efforts have been guided by the best interests of the child, which we believe can be fully realised only when she is in her home country where her socio-cultural rights can be safeguarded. Accordingly, we have been requesting Germany to return the child to India. The Embassy has repeatedly requested German authorities to ensure that Ariha’s connection with her cultural, religious and linguistic background is not compromised and sought consular access to the child as well as cultural immersion at the Indian Cultural Centre in Berlin”, reported News18. The foreign ministry also expressed dismay at the toddler being shifted from the care of a foster parent to a specialised foster care arrangement. “The manner in which this shift was carried out is a matter of concern. We and the parents believe that this rapid change is not in the child’s best interest and could have far-reaching consequences for her emotional and mental development,” the MEA said. “India has a robust child welfare and protection system, and there are potential foster parents in India who are willing to bring up the child in her own socio-cultural milieu. The German authorities have been made aware of India’s child protection system and the details of potential foster parents have also been shared with them. Ariha’s continued placement in German foster care and infringement of her social, cultural and linguistic rights is of deep concern to the Government of India and the parents,” the statement added. The MEA’s statement comes a day after Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde shot off a letter to external affairs minister (EAM) S Jaishankar seeking his help.

The parents of Ariha hail from Mumbai. The chief minister, who met Dhara and Bhavesh Shah last week, also urged the EAM to “give in-person appointment to the parents to understand their concerns and details of the case." The case was also raised when German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock visited New Delhi last December. She had said at the time that Germany was “also bearing in mind the cultural identity of each child that is taken care of by the youth offices in Germany”. In March, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said the embassy and foreign ministry were in contact with Ariha’s parents and the German authorities. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in February, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra had said New Delhi is closely pursuing the case with Berlin. “Since it involves a baby, there are serious issues regarding privacy. I don’t think it would be correct for me to comment on those. But this is something we deeply care about, we are very sensitive and are regularly in close touch with the parents relating to this case,” he had said at the time, as per HT. Meanwhile, as many as 59 members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from 19 parties on Friday sent a letter to German ambassador Philipp Ackerman expressing their concern on the issue. “As members of Parliament, we have a special responsibility for the welfare of our citizens. It is with this understanding that we appeal to you as representative of your country in India to convey to the authorities in Germany our deep concern in this matter. We also request you to do what is necessary in the case to help bring Ariha home,” HT quoted the letter as saying. ‘Bring back Ariha’ The parents have returned to India to make their case. Their German visa will expire in the next two months and they fear losing Ariha’s custody forever, if the case is not expedited, her mother Dhara told News18. Bhavesh, a software developer, had moved to Germany in 2018 on a work visa. His child was born in Berlin in February 2021. With the baby being placed in foster care for more than 20 months now, several petitions have started to ‘save Ariha’. As per News9Live, Ariha’s family members have also held protests outside the German Embassy building in New Delhi. The parents have also requested the prime minister to intervene.

“Throw us into jail, but repatriate our child to India,” Bhavesh told The Telegraph last year. “In any case, without her home is like a jail”. This incident evokes memories of Sagarika Chakraborty’s case from 2011 who was then living in Norway with her husband and two young children, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy and a five-month-old girl and. Her children were also taken away by the authorities and placed in Norwegian foster care. A recent movie titled Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, with Rani Mukerji in the lead, showed Sagarika’s struggles to win back her children. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .