Ariha Shah is a baby girl who has spent more than 20 months in foster care in Berlin.
Since September 23, 2021, when she was just seven months old, the child has been in foster care in Germany. Dhara and Bhavesh, Ariha’s parents, were accused of abusing her by German authorities.
Ariha is still in the custody of German authorities despite the fact that no official charges were ever brought against the parents and the court-appointed psychologist recommended some kind of parental supervision.
In 2018, Bhavesh Shah, a software engineer from Gujarat, and his wife Dhara relocated to Berlin. In 2021, Ariha was born in Berlin, Germany. Ariha was unceremoniously taken away by the German childcare services Jugendamt,.
Ariha’s grandmother had travelled to Berlin to meet her new granddaughter. Unfortunately, she “accidentally hurt the child” and hurt her “outer genital area”. Authorities were informed of what was thought to be a case of “sexual assault” when she was taken to a hospital.
The parents were accused of incompetence by the authorities. The parents’ case concluded in February 2022, however no official charges were brought against them. The infant was not given back to her parents. the Jugendamt started a civil custody lawsuit to obtain the child’s permanent possession and the termination of the parents’ rights. The child, who is now more than two years old, has since been the subject of a court dispute between the parents.
Ariha has been transferred to a facility for kids with special needs although she is not a special needs child. The parents are allowed only fortnightly visits.
In a rare display of inter-party cooperation, 59 MPs from 19 different Indian political parties. They have written a letter to Philipp Ackerman, the German ambassador in New Delhi, pleading with him to take all reasonable steps.
There are a lot of apparent similarities between this case and Sagarika Chakraborty’s. She was accused of “improper parenting” by Norwegian authorities, who removed her two children and placed them in foster care. Chakraborty’s battle to reclaim her children served as the inspiration for Rani Mukherjee’s most recent film “Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway.”