India won't extradite kidnapped Amsterdam girl's father; Dutch prosecutor presses Indian authorities

The Ministry of Security and Justice wants an explanation from India on why the country will not extradite Shehzad Hemani, who kidnapped his 3-year-old daughter Insiya from Amsterdam last year. The Ministry will shortly send a letter to the Indian authorities, demanding an explanation, the Public Prosecutor said in a preparatory hearing in the court of Amsterdam on Friday, AD reports.

The Netherlands asked for Hemani's extradition in March. On May 11th the Ministry received a diplomatic memo by email which stated that the Indian authorities do not consider extraditing Shehzad Hemani necessary. According to the Prosecutor, the Ministry hasn't received the original letter yet, but the Netherlands is preparing a letter demanding clarification on India's position. Nevertheless, the Prosecutor is working on the assumption that India will not extradite the suspect. If that is indeed the case, the Prosecutor will try to prosecute him in his absence.

India rejected the request to extradite on May 5th. The Indian authorities do not see what Hemani did as a crime, his lawyer Gerard Spong said to the Volkskrant last month. As he is the girl's father, India does not consider him taking her a kidnapping, the lawyer explained.

Insiya Hemani was violently taken from her grandmother's home in Amsterdam in September last year. It soon became apparent that her father orchestrated the abduction. The now 3-year-old girl is believed to be in India with her father.

Insiya's parents were in the midst of a custody battle when the little girl was taken. The court in the Netherlands gave her mother, Nadia Rashid, preliminary custody and Hemani was only allowed supervised visits, according to AD.