Ariha Shah's mother Dhara issues an appeal for her return.
The case of Ariha Shah, a 27-month-old Indian girl who has been in the custody of Germany's Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) since September 2021, gathered momentum today with the Ministry of External Affairs urging German authorities to send her back to India at the earliest. 59 Members of Parliament from 19 parties also wrote to the German Ambassador today seeking Ariha's repatriation, and her mother appealed for intervention "at the PM level".
According to a PTI report, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday seeking his assistance in bringing Ariha back home.
Asked about Ariha at a press briefing today, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said her continued stay in the German foster care and "infringement" of her social, cultural and linguistic rights is of deep concern to the government of India and the parents.
"We would like to reiterate that Ariha Shah is an Indian national and her nationality and socio-cultural background is the most important determinant of where her foster care is to be provided," Mr Bagchi said.
"We urge German authorities to do all that is necessary to send Ariha to India at the earliest, which is also her inalienable right as an Indian national. We remain committed to ensuring the return of Ariha Shah to India," he said.
Speaking to ANI today, Ariha's mother Dhara Shah said she and her husband had taken the baby to a doctor in September 2021 after they spotted blood in her diaper. They took Ariha back home when the doctor gave the all-clear, but when she was taken for a follow-up, the hospital handed Ariha over to German child services and an attempt was made to accuse the parents of sexually abusing her.
Ms Shah added that, in December 2021, the same hospital ruled out sexual abuse and a German police case on the incident was closed in February 2022. The Jugendamt, however, pressed ahead with the case to terminate the couple's parental custody. Ms Shah said they found out last week that Ariha, who had been living with a foster parent for the past 20 months, has now been put in an institute for children with "special needs". She appealed to the government to take up the case at the "PM level" so that Ariha can be brought back to India.
59 MPs from 19 political parties, meanwhile, wrote to German Ambassador to India Dr Philipp Ackermann today requesting Germany to return Ariha to India, insisting that "India can well look after her own children". Some of the MPs who are signatories to the letter are Hema Malini and Varun Gandhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, and Dr John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).