rs-discusses-indian-child-ariha-stuck-in-german-foster-care

The case of Ariha Shah, a daughter of Gujarati parents currently in German foster care, was brought to the attention of the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of parliament, today. Senior MP Shaktisinh Gohil from Gujarat raised the issue, highlighting the distressing circumstances surrounding the three-year separation of the child from her parents.

 

Gohil informed the house that Ariha was taken into foster care by German authorities when she was just nine months old, based on suspicions of sexual abuse. However, it was later found that no such abuse had occurred. Despite this, the German government has not returned the child to her parents, Dhara and Bhavesh Shah.

 

The Shahs, originally from Ahmedabad and Mumbai, moved to Berlin in August 2018. Their daughter, Ariha, was born in February 2021. The family’s ordeal began when Dhara noticed blood in Ariha’s diaper and took her to a doctor. Although the doctor initially dismissed it as nothing serious, further examinations led to the authorities taking custody of the child and accusing the parents of abuse.

The Shahs, who struggled with the language barrier, were unable to effectively communicate with the officials, as the only available translator was not proficient in translating Hindi to German.

 

The couple began a legal battle to regain custody of their daughter. DNA tests and medical examinations eventually cleared them of the accusations, with Ariha's grandmother confessing that the bleeding was accidentally caused by her while handling the baby.

 

Despite this, the German authorities have not returned Ariha to her parents, and the family remains concerned about her well-being in foster care, where she may not be receiving the vegetarian diet and cultural upbringing that their strict Jain religion requires.

 

The Shahs have appealed to Indian authorities, requesting that Ariha be placed with a Jain Gujarati family in India until they are deemed fit to care for her. They fear that if the legal battle drags on, Ariha could be naturalised as a German citizen and remain in the country permanently, due to the "Continuity Principle" in Germany, which may prevent her from being returned to her parents because it would disrupt her current lifestyle and upbringing.

 

Several organisations, including JITO, Prasadham, JEET, and SanskarShakti, have sent letters to India's Ministry of External Affairs, urging them to intervene. However, as Ariha nears four years old, there has been little progress in resolving the issue.

 

Community leader Yatin Shah expressed concern over Ariha’s upbringing in foster care, stating that she may be exposed to a non-vegetarian diet and German lifestyle, which conflicts with her family's strict Jain beliefs. The parents, who have limited contact with their daughter, remain uncertain about her location and well-being.

 

In his address to the Rajya Sabha, Gohil called on the Indian government to engage with German authorities to resolve the matter, stressing that such a situation would likely not have occurred if Ariha were from a more developed country.