WATCH | 'Ariha is Indian': Indian community in Frankfurt stages protest to demand repatriation of baby Ariha to India

There has been a growing call for bringing back baby Ariha to India. The Indian community in Frankfurt, Germany, staged protest asking immediate repatriation of the girl who has been living in foster care in Berlin for over 20 months. Ariha Shah has been in foster care in Germany since September 23, 2021. She was then just seven months old. Back then, German authorities had alleged that Ariha’s parents – Dhara and Bhavesh – had abused her. India continues to make efforts to reunite the family with the Ministry of External Affairs involved in this case since 2022.

#WATCH | The Indian community in Frankfurt, Germany assembled on 15th July to demand the repatriation of baby Ariha to India. pic.twitter.com/eZmvjgUhKZ

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2023

In December last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had raised the issue during wide-ranging discussions with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock. Dubbing it a ‘very delicate matter’ that involved privacy issues, Jaishankar had said at the time that both governments were handling the situation according to the circumstances. Why was Ariha taken by German authorities? Bhavesh Shah, a Gujarati software engineer, moved to Berlin with his wife, Dhara, in 2018. Ariha was born in the German capital in 2021. All was going well till the fateful day in September when Ariha was abruptly taken by the Jugendamt, German childcare services. Speaking to the media, Dhara said that Ariha’s grandmother had visited Berlin to see her recently-born granddaughter. Unfortunately, she “accidentally hurt the child”, causing injury to her “outer genital area”. When she was taken to a hospital, authorities were alerted of what was suspected to be a case of “sexual assault”. Why Ariha was taken by German authorities? Ariha Shah was taken into custody by German authorities who alleged that she was being harassed by her parents. Bhavesh Shah (Ariha’s father), a Gujarati software engineer, moved to Berlin with his wife, Dhara, in 2018. Ariha was born in 2021. In September 2021, when she was mere seven months old, Ariha was abruptly taken by the Jugendamt, German childcare services who accused her parents of abusing her. Earlier, speaking to media, Dhara had said Ariha’s grandmother had visited Berlin to see her recently-born granddaughter. Unfortunately, she “accidentally hurt the child”, causing injury to her “outer genital area”. When Ariha was taken to a hospital, authorities were alerted of what was suspected to be a case of “sexual assault”. It was after this, the Jugendamt immediately took the child away to foster care, with her parents allowed to visit once every fortnight. The authorities also registered a case of child sexual abuse against the parents. After investigation, the assault charges were dropped but authorities accused Ariha’s patents of negligence instead. The case against Ariha’s parents was closed in February 2022, without any formal charges being filed against them, but the baby was not returned to them. Instead, the Jugendamt filed a civil custody case for the termination of parental rights and permanent custody of the child. Since then, the parents have been fighting a legal battle for the custody of Ariha who now is over two years old. With inputs from agencies