How would you feel when your toddler calls someone else mumma? That’s what Dhara Shah, mother of Ariha Shah, is feeling right now. Her baby was taken away from her when she was just seven months old. Dhara Shah and her husband, Bhavesh Shah, light diyas and are fighting for a daughter who doesn’t even remember them.

This is a story tangled in law and the fragile identity of a child caught between two worlds.

What Happened With Ariha Shah

"We took her to the hospital because she was hurt. We never thought doing the right thing would cost us our child." – Bhavesh Shah

In September 2021, the Shahs rushed baby Ariha to a German hospital after an accidental injury. Doctors raised suspicions of abuse, and authorities stepped in immediately. Ariha was removed from her parent’s custody and placed in foster care.

Months later, the abuse charges were dropped. The parents were cleared. But Ariha was never returned.

Ariha is now four years old.

You may also like to read:

5-Year-Old Electrocuted by LED Lights – A Wake-Up Call for Parents

This Baby’s First Cry Was at 35,000 Feet-Mid-Air Birth Leaves Everyone Speechless

Parents Beware: Experts Are Warning About Brain-Eating Amoeba Cases in Children

Parents Are Living With An Empty Cradle

Every birthday and every bedtime story is missing from the Shahs’ home. Ariha’s milestones passed in someone else’s care.

"She doesn’t know what Diwali is, she doesn’t know our festivals, our stories, our food. She is losing everything that makes her who she is," Dhara says with a heavy heart.

And perhaps the most painful moment came when they heard Ariha call her foster mother mumma.

"That word is sacred. Hearing it for someone else, it felt like we lost her all over again."

India Stepped In For The Little One

As the months dragged on, the Shahs refused to give up. Their pleas reached the Indian government. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar raised the issue with Germany multiple times, calling Ariha’s case a matter of cultural and national identity.

India even offered solutions like placing Ariha with her grandparents or another Indian family in Germany. But so far, nothing has worked. The legal machinery moves slowly, while Ariha is growing up fast.

Why Is The Case So Complicated?

Germany’s child welfare system operates differently. Once a child enters foster care, decisions are based on what the courts believe is in the best interest of the child.

For Ariha, they argue that she has already adjusted to foster care and removing her now would cause disruption.

"But what about the disruption of losing her parents? Of losing her culture? Why does that not matter?" Bhavesh asks.

Behind all the legal debates, Ariha is just a little girl growing up without her real parents. She doesn’t know the smell of her mother’s cooking. She doesn’t know the stories her father would have told her at bedtime.

She is a four-year-old who deserves the warmth of her parents and the chance to know where she truly belongs.

Dhara lights a diya every night with the hope that one day her little girl will come home and call her mumma.