The Ministry of External Affairs has summoned the German Ambassador in connection with the case of baby girl Ariha Shah who has been placed in foster care in Germany since September 2021 over allegations of parental abuse, said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday. Bagchi said that “high priority” is being given to the case and the German Ambassador has been summoned this week in this regard. German authorities have been asked to bring back the baby girl at the earliest, he said, adding that the MEA is in touch with them.
"We are giving high priority to this case... We have called the German Ambassador this week regarding this. We've asked the German authorities to bring back the child at the earliest. We are in touch with the German authorities,” Bagchi said, as per an ANI report.
Ariha Shah was seven months old when she was placed in the custody of Germany's Youth Welfare Office on September 23, 2021, after she suffered an accidental injury.
Her mother Dhara Shah reached the Parliament on Tuesday to gather support from MPs to push the release of her daughter.
ALSO READ: Baby Ariha Case: Constantly Requesting German Authorities To Return Child To India, Says MEA
On Wednesday, several women parliament members met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar urging his intervention in the case.
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 Jaishankar met the Union minister on the behalf of Dhara Shah and sought the intervention of the government in the matter.
"Due to cultural differences, they have taken a strict stand and we want to speak against that. We request the Indian government to bring the child and keep her in a foster home in India," said Jaya Bachchan, as per a PTI report.
The matter was raised by Jaishankar with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock when she visited India in December last year.