New appeal for Insiya Hemani’s return to Amsterdam; Girl abducted in 2016 turns 10 today

Nadia Rashid made another appeal for the return of her daughter Insiya, abducted from her grandmother’s home in Amsterdam in 2016 and smuggled to her father in India. Today is the Amsterdam girl’s 10th birthday.

To mark Insiya’s birthday, Rashid asked people to send in messages for her daughter. She got thousands of responses and read some of them in a video posted on Instagram.

“Dear Insiya, mommy loves you. And mommy misses you so much. Happy birthday, sweetie. Come home soon,” Rashid wrote with the post.

Rashid hasn’t seen her daughter in seven years. A group of men abducted the then 2-year-old girl from her grandmother’s home in Amsterdam on 29 September 2016. The child was smuggled to India, where she is still believed to live with her father, Shehzad Hemani.

In 2020, a Dutch court convicted Hemani of the abduction and sentenced him to nine years in prison. As the Netherlands has no extradition treaty with India, the man has so far escaped imprisonment.

Rashid has been fighting for her daughter’s return since Insiya’s abduction, making sure the Dutch royals and government don’t forget her plight. Various Dutch politicians have raised the matter on diplomatic levels, but so far to no avail.

“You cannot explain in words what this does to a parent. It's heartbreaking. Every day is a struggle to get her back," Rashid told the morning show Goedemorgen Nederland in an interview on the seventh anniversary of Insiya’s abduction. “But you're standing there. You do this for your child, and you don't give up. You can't give up because your child is counting on you.”

Dear #Insiya, mommy loves you. And mommy misses you so much. Happy birthday sweetie. Come home soon. ❤️#bringinsiyaback #nevergiveup #happybirthday pic.twitter.com/kArFBCCB1u

— Bring Insiya Back (@BringInsiyaBack) March 5, 2024