Women MPs Seek Government Help For Release Of Baby Ariha From Germany

New Delhi:

Some women parliamentarians on Wednesday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with a plea to intervene in a case of a child who has been placed in foster care in Germany since September 2021 over allegations of parental abuse.

The child’s mother Dhara Shah was in Parliament on Tuesday to gather support of parliamentarians to push for the release of her daughter from foster care in Germany.

The girl was placed in the custody of Germany’s Youth Welfare Office on September 23, 2021, after she, then seven months old, suffered an accidental injury.

Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajani Patil, NCP leaders Supriya Sule and Vandana Chavan, Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan and Shiv Sena (UBT) member Priyanka Chaturvedi met Mr Jaishankar on Dhara Shah’s behalf and sought the government’s intervention in the matter.

“Due to cultural differences, they have taken a strict stand and we want to speak against that,” Jaya Bachchan said.

“We request the Indian government to bring the child and keep her in a foster home in India,” she said.

India has been maintaining that it is important for the child to be in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment.

Last month, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said sending back the child to India is important for her cultural and national identity.

S Jaishankar had raised the matter with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock when she visited India in December last year.