Ahmedabad: The plea of the parents of baby Ariha, the child who has been sent to German child protection authorities' custody, seems to have fallen on deaf ears as their attempt to bring her back to India remained unsuccessful so far. On Ariha's third birth day, her mother Dhara Shah made an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the kid's quick and safe return to her home in India from Germany.
According to Dhara, the child had suffered an external perineal injury earlier. The parents' agony seems unending as they have been struggling for the last two and a half years to get her back. Despite appealing to the Ministry of External Affairs, nothing concrete happened so far.
In an exclusive telephonic conversation with ETV Bharat, Ariha's mother Dhara Shah said her daughter had suffered an external perineal injury when she was 7-month-old. Seeing no other way out, she has now appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with her hands folded.
"Please bring back our kid, Ariha. I appeal to you to save our kid," Dhara said. She told ETV Bharat, "The doctor assured me to provide her relief through better treatment saying there was nothing to worry about her recovery. Later, when we went for a follow-up checkup, a child custody officer was present there. Ariha was handed over to the child protection officer. We were also falsely accused of child abuse.
At the hospital, she along with her husband voluntarily underwent DNA test and a test report also revealed there was no abuse. Thereafter, the case was closed after the government lawyer demanded closure.
"Child Services wing, however, continued the case to deprive us of our parental rights. Then I was asked by the court to undergo a psychological evaluation as a mother. The court-appointed psychologist interrogated me for 11 hours and submitted a report in December 2022," Dhara said.
She further said she along with her husband have been struggling to bring their kid for the last two and a half years. "We are not allowed to make any video calls or voice calls. There is a court order that the child be visited once in every 15 days, but Child Services cancelled the order. We were not allowed to meet our child even during the Christmas holidays," Dhara rued.
Dhara said she saw Ariha on Tuesday. According to her, she got no information from German authorities about the place where she was kept. "There is snowfall in Germany. We ensure that our child is wrapped with two to three warm clothes to stave off cold. German authorities made Ariha wear clothes and shoes that did not fit her size. Even her hair was not washed," Ariha's mother pointed out.
Dhara brought allegations of human, religious and child rights violations in her daughter's case. "Ariha was not allowed to visit the temple with us. The child's right to follow religion and be attached to Indian culture is being taken away from her," Dhara added.
She acknowledged help from the Indian government though expressed frustration over the stalemate regarding Ariha's return. Dhara alleged that the German authorities did not give them a fair trial. "Germany does not seem to be in a mood to even listen to even the Indian government. Still, I request the German authorities to at least hand over Ariha to the Indian government," she signed off.
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