On Ariha Shah’s Third Birthday, Her Mother Appeals for Her ‘Rescue’ From Germany

(This article was originally published on 24 January 2024. It has been reposted from The Quint's archive in light of Ariha Shah's third birthday.)

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

"They have taken my daughter. We will do anything to get her back," said Dhara Shah, demanding that her almost-three-year-old daughter Ariha, who was taken from her parents by Germany's Child Welfare Services, be repatriated to India and reunited with her family.

Ariha Shah has been in foster care in Germany since September 2021, when she was only seven months old, after the country's Jugendamt (local child welfare agency) alleged that her parents, Bhavesh and Dhara Shah, abused her.

Bhavesh and Dhara, who continue to fight the case, fear that child services are dragging the matter on to take advantage of the child law's "continuity principle," wherein if a child has spent significant time with the state-appointed carer, they are said to be settled and are not shifted back, even if their parents are found fit to raise them.

In December 2022, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the case of Ariha Shah. He expressed concerns about ensuring that Ariha should be able to reside in an environment that aligns with her linguistic, religious, cultural, and social background.

The Quint reached out to Jugendamt in Berlin who have remained unavailable for a comment.

For the last two years, the family has categorically denied the allegations, and are engaged in a legal battle in Germany, along with attempts to mobilise support for their case.

The Timeline

In September 2016, Bhavesh and Dhara got married. "Both of us are first-generation graduates in our respective families. We went to Germany in August 2018 because my husband got a job there," Dhara told The Quint. 

Ariha was born on 2 February 2021. "We knew that it was a baby girl, so we decided on the name Ariha even before she was born," she added.

"When Ariha was only seven months old, on 17 September 2021, we found blood in her diaper. We immediately informed the midwife and took her to the doctors, who checked Ariha and told us that everything was fine, there was nothing to worry about, and no treatment was needed." 

Subsequent follow-up visits did not raise any concern either, even though one particular conversation took place in the presence of police officials. 

On 23 September 2021, while doctors told the Shahs that their daughter is being discharged, they conveyed that they are not sending Ariha back with them and are handing her over to child services.

Dhara Shah told The Quint that while they tried to further speak to hospital officials, who insisted that the parents must wait for medical test reports to arrive, child services took Ariha from the hospital. 

"We were totally blank because we had never seen anything like this before. If any parent is taking their child to the doctor and is talking to them, and you find out that someone took your child away from behind your back, what would you do? If you tell a mother that she doesn't even have her child, what will she do?"

It was only a week later that Ariha saw her parents, who have only met her in foster care since. 

Even after the hospital, which initially informed child services of the injury, ruled out sexual abuse in December 2021, and the police investigation was closed without any charges in February 2022, child services continued the case to terminate their parenting rights.

Over the course of 2022, a court-appointed psychologist conducted a comprehensive psychological assessment of the parents, completing the evaluation in the same year. The expert recommended that the child should be placed in a parent-and-child facility with either parent, while the other parent should have regular visitation rights.

However, Jugendamt moved Ariha to a facility for "children with special needs" two hours away from Berlin, where she remains as of now, Dhara Shah told The Quint.

On 13 June 2023, the court granted Ariha's full custody to the German Child Services and terminated the Shahs' parenting rights.

Dhara Shah said that the court came to its decision by "ignoring positive reports from the social worker and its own expert’s recommendations."

"Whoever is in our favour, their reports are ignored, and child services, who don't even know Ariha and have hardly met Ariha, get their way."

The Verdict

The parents, initially stumped about the origin of the injury, said that Ariha's paternal grandmother "accidentally caused the injury while visiting us, the child, in Berlin."

After informing lawyers and German authorities, Ariha's grandmother also submitted a detailed affidavit regarding the incident. At the same time, the parents "have tried their hardest to explain the situation to German officials" and prove themselves as good parents in a system that was alien to the pair.

Dhara Shah told The Quint that a number of "misunderstandings due to a language barrier" have further added to their troubles.

The court justified denying parental care as a means to "avert the existing danger to the child," pointing to two injuries Ariha had suffered in April 2021 (head and "back injury" during bathing) and September 2021 (genital injury).

The court concluded that it believed "the mother and/or father intentionally caused the serious genital injuries of the child" and that the parents were unable to "explain the events in question in a sufficiently consistent manner."

However, Dhara Shah told The Quint:

"We gave a detailed defence, which included evaluations from two medical experts, an affidavit by a linguistic expert and a German psychologist-cum-culture-studies-expert. We provided reasonable explanations to every allegation but the judge didn't even acknowledge, let alone discuss our defense."

The court also rejected the parents’ plea for daily visitation, stating that they already have "the right and duty" for visitation twice a month "on the first and third Tuesday of each month for 60 minutes (of) accompanied contact." The court reasoned that while continued contact with her parents was essential for Ariha's consistent perception of them in her development, "on the other hand, the development of a bond was no longer in the foreground.

An Identity Crisis 

The parents' primary concern revolves around the custody issue itself. Despite the absence of formal charges against the parents and the court-appointed psychologist recommending some form of parental supervision, Ariha remains in the custody of German authorities.

The second concern pertains to Ariha's frequent relocations, particularly to a facility for children with special needs. This was specifically highlighted in a joint letter to German ambassador to India Philipp Ackerman by Indian MPs across 19 political parties, asking him to do everything possible to ensure that Ariha be repatriated.

The MPs' letter highlights that Ariha is not a special needs child, and the constant shifting between caregivers is causing deep and damaging trauma to her. The parents are only allowed fortnightly visits, and videos of these meetings depict the profound bonds the baby shares with her parents and the pain of their separation.

Ariha’s parents have raised a serious concern about her losing her Indian and Jain culture, religion and identity, claiming that the German Youth Welfare Office refuses to serve her vegetarian food because they believe that “only a non-vegetarian diet is nutritious" for the child.

“We have always requested that her Jain heritage be preserved as far as possible. But this has been rejected by them, saying that this is our, her parents' heritage, and not hers,” Dhara said.

Moreover, the parents also alleged that despite multiple requests for temple visits on festivals and play dates with fellow Indian children, which the Jain community has supported, the German child services have refused to entertain any requests.