The prolonged and heart-wrenching custody battle for Baby Ariha Shah has taken a significant diplomatic turn, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the matter directly with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during bilateral talks in Gujarat. This intervention has rekindled hope for parents Dhara and Bhavesh Shah, who have been fighting for over four years to regain custody of their daughter, now nearly five years old.
A Struggle for Connection and Cultural Roots
The Shahs, originally from Gujarat, are permitted only two supervised visits per month with their daughter. These brief encounters are fraught with emotional and linguistic barriers. Ariha, who was placed in German foster care at just seven months old in September 2021, is now fluent only in German. Her mother, Dhara, has learned the language to communicate, often acting as a translator for Bhavesh, whose German vocabulary is limited to a few words like 'unicorn' and 'gift'.
The parents' deepest fear is that Ariha is becoming completely detached from her Indian and Jain heritage. They report that despite assurances a year ago, she has not started English classes and cannot respond to simple English greetings. Their concerns were amplified during the Jain festival of Paryushan last year, when, according to community sources, requests for Ariha to meet other Gujarati Jains were denied by the German Youth Services (Jugendamt).
A Legal and Financial Quagmire
The case originated in September 2021 when Ariha was taken to a Berlin hospital with injuries. Medical staff suspected sexual abuse and alerted authorities. A district court later ruled that one or both parents had intentionally caused the injuries and removed custody. However, in a critical turn, medical experts ruled out sexual assault in December 2021, and criminal charges were dropped in February 2022. Despite this, Ariha was not returned to her parents.
Since then, the legal journey has been arduous and costly. The parents' visitation rights have fluctuated, currently standing at two hour-long, supervised meetings per month. In June 2023, a German court stated the biological "parents are no longer authorised to decide on the whereabouts of their child" and rejected a plea to place Ariha in Indian child services' custody. An appellate court upheld this decision in July 2024.
The financial burden is crushing. The couple reportedly owes over Rs 22 lakh to German child services for foster care costs from September 2021 to June 2024, with the amount growing daily. Litigation has cost an additional Rs 16 lakh. Bhavesh Shah is currently unemployed, and the family continues to live in Berlin, driving two hours every fortnight for their visits.
Diplomatic Push and Community Support
India has consistently taken up the case at the highest levels. Following PM Modi's discussion, Foreign Secretary Pavan Misri emphasized treating it as a "humanitarian issue" and stated efforts are being made to ensure Ariha grows up in an Indian atmosphere, learning Hindi and participating in festivals. The Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly urged Germany to send Ariha to India, calling it her "inalienable right as an Indian national."
The Shahs are not alone in their fight. Nearly 60 Indian MPs from across party lines have written a joint letter to the German Ambassador. The Jain community in India and Germany has also been actively making representations to political leaders and the Indian Embassy.
As Ariha approaches her fifth birthday next month, her parents cling to the hope ignited by the latest diplomatic engagement. They continue their relentless pursuit, battling a foreign legal system, immense debt, and the agonizing fear of their daughter losing her identity, all while cherishing the two hours a month they have to remind her, through a translator, that they are her family.
