New Delhi : 59 MPs from 19 political parties, including the BJP-Congress, have jointly written a letter to Germany’s Ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, to send back baby Ariha, who is stuck in a foster home in Germany. These political parties have asked the German ambassador to ensure that baby Ariha is stuck in a foster home in Berlin for the last 20 months. Baby Ariha Shah should be brought back to India as soon as possible. MPs from 19 political parties, including ruling BJP, Congress, Left and Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), are among the parties who have written a letter to the German ambassador to send baby Ariha Shah back to India.
Irreparable loss for baby Ariha in return delay
According to media reports, in a letter written to German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs said that it is necessary to bring baby Ariha back to India to grow up in her own country, her own people, her own culture and her own environment. They argued that any delay in sending her to India would be an irreparable loss to baby Ariha.
Government of India has also requested Germany
Along with this, the Government of India has also requested Germany to send back baby Ariha as soon as possible, who has been stuck in Berlin’s Faster Home for more than 20 months. India has emphasized that it is important for the girl child to live in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social milieu. German authorities took seven-month-old Ariha Shah into their custody on September 23, 2021, alleging that her parents had harassed her.
Yugentamt has accused of harassing
According to media reports, Germany’s child welfare agency ‘Yugentamt’ had taken custody of Ariah Shah after accusing her parents of abusing the child. At that time Ariha was only seven months old. Yugentamt had taken over the responsibility of taking care of Ariha’s parents when she had to be hospitalized due to an injury to the perineum (the part between the kidney and the ovary).
It’s time to send baby Ariha home
Indian MPs have said in a letter to the German Ambassador that we are not objecting to any agency of your country. We are assuming that whatever was done at that time was considered to be in the best interest of the child. The MPs wrote, “We respect the legal process of your country, but there is no criminal case against any member of that family. That’s why the time has come to send baby Ariha home. MPs from different parties have supported this letter. These include Hema Malini (BJP), Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress), Supriya Sule (NCP), Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK), Mahua Moitra (TMC), Agatha Sangma (NPP), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (SAD), Maneka Gandhi (BJP). , Preneet Kaur (Congress), Shashi Tharoor (Congress) and Farooq Abdullah (National Conference).
Hospital denies child sexual abuse
The MPs said that Ariha’s parents Dhara and Bhavesh Shah were in Berlin as her father was working in a company there. He said that the family should have returned to India by now, but due to some traumatic events, it could not happen. The letter states that an investigation was launched against the parents into allegations of child sexual abuse and the case was closed in February 2022 without any charges against them. It has been said that the hospital in its report had also denied sexual abuse of the girl child.
Yugentamt went to the court for permanent custody
The MPs said that despite all this, the girl was not returned to her parents and the ‘Eugentamt’ approached the German courts for her permanent custody. ‘Yugentamt’ says that the Indian parents are not capable of taking care of their own child and the child would be better off in the care of German parents. The MPs said the case dragged on for more than a year and a half due to the evaluation of the parents by a court-appointed psychologist.
Parents can meet the girl on 15 days
The MPs further said that shifting the girl child from one caregiver to another would cause her severe trauma. Parents are allowed to meet her only every 15 days. The videos of these meetings are heart-wrenching and reveal the child’s deep attachment to her parents and the pain of separation. The MPs said that there is another aspect. We have our own cultural norms. The girl belongs to a Jain family, which is a complete vegetarian. The girl child is being brought up in foreign culture, she is being fed non-vegetarian food. Being here in India you can better understand how unacceptable this is for us.