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Who is Ariha Shah, Indian baby taken from her parents by German foster care?
Ariha Shah was born in Germany's capital Berlin in 2021. Ariha's father Bhavesh Shah, a software engineer from Gujarat, moved to Berlin in 2018 with her mother.
Dhara Shah, mother of Indian baby in German foster home Ariha Shah, on Friday held a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar urging the German authorities to let Ariha celebrate India's Independence Day, on August 15, with the Indian community in Germany to protect her cultural rights.
"We will go to the German embassy. We will request the German ambassador that 15th August is coming and every Indian has the right to celebrate it. We will ask him to let Ariha celebrate the Indian independence day. She should not be deprived of her cultural identity," Dhara Shah said while speaking to news agency ANI.
"Our main motive to gather here is that Ariha has cultural rights and they should be preserved," she added.
Dhara said that in June this year, Ariha's rights were given to German child services. “They told us yesterday that all visitation is closed because they have no one to pick and drop Ariha. They also returned the gifts we gave her during the previous visitation. We don't know where she is and in which condition. We are worried about her safety.”
Who is Ariha Shah?
Ariha Shah was born in Germany's capital Berlin in 2021. Ariha's father Bhavesh Shah, a software engineer from Gujarat, moved to Berlin in 2018 with Dhara.
Ariha was seven months old when she was taken to a foster care by German authorities on September 23, 2021. German authorities had then alleged that her parents — Dhara and Bhavesh — had abused her.
Shah was then placed in the custody of Germany’s Jugendamt or Youth Welfare Office after she sustained an accidental injury. Her continued presence in foster care has become an irritant in bilateral relations.
What happened?
Dhara earlier told media that after Ariha was born, her grandmother visited the family in Berlin. However, she “accidentally hurt the child”, which caused an injury to the “outer genital area”.
As per her family, when Ariha was taken to the hospital, German authorities were alerted as it was suspected to be a case of sexual assault.
After Ariha was taken into foster care, her parents were only allowed to visit once every fortnight. German authorities also filed a case of child sexual abuse against her parents.
While the German authorities dropped the assault charges, they still held her parents accountable for negligence. The cases against the parents were dropped in February 2022 and no formal charges were filed.
Ariha was still not returned to her parents and a civil custody case was filed by Jugendamt to terminate parental rights as it sought Ariha's custody. Since then the couple has been fighting a legal battle.
India has pressed Germany on the early return of the baby, saying it is important for the child to be in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment. German authorities have said the child was placed in foster care after her Indian parents allegedly harassed her.
The Jugendamt had earlier moved Ariha to a facility in Berlin for children with special needs, and she remains there today.
