Rani Mukherjee returns to the big screen with the film ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’. The movie is based on Sagarika Chakraborty who’s child was taken away by the Norway authorities. She fought with the government and got her child back. Now a similar incident has happened in Germany. An Indian couple named Bhavesh and Dhara Shah moved from India to Germany in 2018. They were excited about starting their new life and raising their daughter, Ariha, in a new country. However, their dreams were shattered when their child was taken away from them by the German child protection services in September 2021 on suspicion of sexual abuse. Dhara, the toddler's mother, addressed the media in Mumbai, where the couple appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for assistance in bringing their child back to India. She explained that when Ariha was just seven months old, she suffered an injury to her private parts, and the couple took her to a hospital for treatment. The paternal grandmother had injured her by mistake. However, when they returned for a follow-up visit, the doctors contacted child protection services, suspecting that the injury was caused by sexual abuse. The couple was heartbroken and desperate to clear their name. After a long investigation, an expert from the same hospital ruled out the possibility of sexual abuse. They gave their DNA samples for testing, and based on the medical report, the police closed the case of sexual abuse in February 2022.

However, their ordeal was far from over. The child protection services opened a case against them for the termination of custody, alleging that the couple was incapable of taking care of their child. The couple challenged the case in court, and after a year of waiting, the parental ability report arrived. The report noted that the bond between the child and her parents was very strong. However, it recommended that Ariha be kept in a family home until she was six years old, casting doubts on the couple's parenting abilities. According to the report, after six years of age, she would be capable of deciding whether to stay with her parents or in foster care. Bhavesh expressed concern that Ariha's Gujarati Jain identity wasn't being preserved as she is in foster care. Authorities also denied the couple's request to allow Ariha to travel to India, stating that she does not speak any Indian languages, which could cause trauma. They also forbade volunteers from teaching her Hindi or Gujarati.

Bhavesh, a software developer, lost his job and the couple is now in debt. They are seeking Prime Minister Modi's assistance in bringing their daughter back to India. The couple's story has captured the hearts of many, and they hope that their plea for help will be heard. The family and volunteers have also started many petitions to save Ariha. The parents have also called for several protests in front of the German Embassy in New Delhi. Vinay Kwatra, the Foreign Secretary said that the Indian embassy is in touch with both the family and German with the aim to reunite them. He said, ‘We have concerns that the child should be in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment. This is her right. And our embassy is pursuing the matter with German authorities, but it was also a subject which I had brought up with the minister.’

Tags

• Germany
• Save
• Baby
• Ariha
• Norway
• Rani
• Mukherje

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