German Court Denies Indian Baby's Custody To Parents

A court in Berlin’s Pankow has denied the custody of 27-month-old Ariha Shah to her parents. The child has been handed over to Germany’s Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), where she has been since September 2021.

Ariha was sent to the custody of the State of Germany by the court on Friday, dismissing her parents' claim and stating that Ariha's injury was "accidental." Justifying its verdict, the court emphasised that the best interests of the child were at risk.

Ariha’s parents had expressed that they have faith in the Indian government and confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar will work towards bringing Ariha back to India.

Germany Denies Baby Custody To Parents

Ariha had been in foster care in Germany since September 23, 2021, when she was seven months old after German authorities deemed Ariha’s parents, Dhara and Bhavesh Shah, abusive towards her.

The case came to light when the Ministry of External Affairs got involved in 2022. The case also gathered public attention among Indians after 59 members of parliament from 19 political parties signed a letter and sent it to Philipp Ackerman, the German ambassador in Delhi.

The letter urged him to undertake the necessary efforts to facilitate bringing Ariha Shah back to India as soon as possible.

According to an Indian Express report, the child’s parents initially sought her custody but then requested that she be given to the Indian Welfare Services. However, the German court denied custody of the child to both parents or the Indian Welfare Services.

The court pointed out that the baby had sustained two injuries: a head injury in April 2021 that happened while she was given a bath, and a genital injury in September 2021. The court noted that it has come to the conclusion that the child’s mother or father had intentionally caused serious genital injuries to the child and that they were unable to explain the events in a sufficiently consistent manner.

On June 2, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated that Ariha's staying in German foster care was an "infringement" of her social, cultural, and linguistic rights and reiterated that the baby was an Indian national. He added that the child’s nationality and socio-economic background were significant in determining where foster care was provided. He also expressed that the Indian government and the child’s parents were deeply concerned about the same.

Image Credits: NDTV

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