NEW DELHI: Despite all the campaigns, diplomatic pressure and demands for justice for 28-month-old baby Ariha, a German district court in Pankow has denied custody of the child to her biological parents and have handed her over to the Jugendamt (German Youth Service).
Rejecting the application of the parents Dhara and Bhavesh Shah to return the child to them or hand her over to Indian welfare services, the court in its order said that the parents were no longer authorised to decide on the whereabouts of their child. The court issued the order even though the case against the parents has been closed, without any charges being filed against them.
The parents of the child, however, continue to be optimistic of getting custody of their daughter and say they won’t stop till they have her back. Earlier, they had monthly visitation rights to see their child – which have been withdrawn now.
ALSO READ | 59 MPs ask German envoy to repatriate baby Ariha to India
"We as parents have full faith that our government will be successful in repatriating our daughter to her home country as she needs to be brought up in the culture that she was born in as a Jain," Dhara and Bhavesh Shah told The New Indian Express.
The parents are in debt now as they had taken a loan of around Rs 45 lakh which they have spent on the legal process until now. The recent court order has directed them to pay close to 25,000 euros as fee for various expenses.
"The parents have run out of money to pay for the next appeal but they are ready to sell their properties. We have collectively raised around Rs 10 lakh to help them and will continue to support them. I say this on behalf of the entire Jain community and we are even ready to take care of baby Ariha for the rest of her life," Yatin Shah told The New Indian Express. Yatin is a representative of the Jain community in Gujarat who has been helping the parents of baby Ariha get justice.
Ariha has been in foster care in Germany since September 23rd, 2021 when she was around seven months old on suspicion that she was abused by her parents (the charges were subsequently dropped after an investigation). However, the battle to bring the baby back to India or see her handed over to her biological parents will continue.
