A German district court has denied the custody of a 28-month-old baby to her Indian parents and gave it to Germany's Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), Indian Express reported. The kid has been in foster care since she was seven months old after her private parts got injured. The court has in two judgments dated June 13, denied the custody of Ariha Shah to her biological parents -- Dhara and Bhavesh Shah
A district court in Pankow rejected the application of the couple to return the child to them directly or at least hand her over to the Indian Welfare Services. The court ruled that 'the parents are no longer authorised to decide on the whereabouts of their child'. It cited two injuries that she had suffered in 2021.
Earlier on June 3, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had urged German authorities to hand over Ariha Shah’s custody at the earliest. Bagchi had said Ariha's continued stay in German foster care and 'infringement' of her social, cultural and linguistic rights is of deep concern to the government of India and the parents.
"We would like to reiterate that Ariha Shah is an Indian national and her nationality and socio-cultural background is the most important determinant of where her foster care is to be provided," Bagchi had said.
Earlier, 59 MPs across 19 political parties had written a joint letter to Philipp Ackerman, the German ambassador in New Delhi, asking him to do everything possible to ensure that Ariha Shah is repatriated to India at the earliest.
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