Baby Ariha’s Case: What Parents Said After Germany Refuses Child’s Custody

New Delhi, India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed the case of baby Ariha Shah during their meeting in Delhi, with India closely monitoring the situation, said Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Friday. 

Ariha Shah is a young Indian girl who has been in foster care in Germany since September 2021, following allegations of abuse against her parents. German authorities took custody of Ariha when she was seven months old while her father was working in Germany, the parents have since returned to India. Her parents, Bhavesh and Dhara Shah, are residents of Mira Bhayander in Maharashtra 's Thane district.

Her parents maintain that Ariha suffered an “accidental injury,” but the German government has rejected these claims, resulting in a prolonged legal battle for custody.

Earlier this year, Dhara Shah, Ariha’s mother, along with the Progressive Women's Organisation and the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), staged a protest at Jantar Mantar, calling for the child's repatriation to safeguard her human and cultural rights.

Dhara urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and help reunite her with her daughter. "Ariha isn’t being taken to the temple and is being deprived of her religious and cultural rights. As an Indian citizen, her linguistic and social rights are not being preserved in Berlin," she stated.

"We have met with various ministers and MPs seeking assistance, and the Indian government has supported us. Now, only PM Modi can help bring my daughter home. If he intervenes, the German government will have to listen. I implore the prime minister to respond to a mother's plea," she added.

At a media briefing, the foreign secretary also said the chancellor has assured the prime minster that he is "very closely following" the issue.

"The case has been followed very, very closely by us.... Our embassy in Berlin has taken it up. When the external affairs minister was in Germany a few weeks ago, he had raised it very strongly with his counterpart," Misri said.

"Yes, I can confirm that it was raised during the meeting today as well. We have at all levels impressed upon the German side that an Indian child growing up in an environment that is not hers -- cultural, religious, linguistic environment -- is somewhat unnatural and that this situation needs to be addressed," he added.

The foreign secretary said Scholz assured Modi that "he is very closely following this issue and continues to pay close attention to it", adding, "I am sure that both sides will remain in touch on this issue through various channels." German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann had said on Wednesday that German authorities are in "very close contact" with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the relevant youth authorities in connection with the case of Ariha Shah.

Ackermann said this in response to a query during a press interaction held at his residence here on what Germany was willing to do to bring the girl back and whether her issue will be raised at the "highest level".