Mother still fighting to bring Amsterdam girl home 4 years after abduction

Four years ago today, then 2-year-old Insiya was violently abducted from her grandmother's Amsterdam home and taken to India with her father. Despite various court rulings that the girl should be returned to her mother, the now 6-year-old is still in India. Mother Nadia Rashid has launched a new action, calling on the government to bring her daughter back.

Nadia launched a website where people can sign an open letter to the government, asking Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus, and Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok to take action to bring Insiya home. 

"We can no longer allow that a Dutch child abducted from Dutch territory be held abroad for years. In 2016 the government said that it would do everything it could do to return Insiya to the Netherlands, but no results were forthcoming. You cannot abandon Insiya," the open letter reads. 

Last week the Public Prosecution Service demanded 9 years in prison against Shehzad Hemani for the abduction of his daughter. He was tried in abstentia. Six others involved were sentenced to up to four years in prison last year. 

"Our family life has been destroyed. No hugs or kisses have been given for four years," a crying Nadia said in the hearing last week. "Insiya can't tell me how her day was, what she wants for dinner what stories mom should read. She hasn't seen mommy celebrating her birthday every year, even though she's thousands of miles away."

"Lost time will not be returned. Soon there will be a ruling and all legal remedies will be over, but the question of when I will get my child back has not been answered. Not knowing when she'll be back is horrible. There is no closure."