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A Decade-Long Nightmare With No Resolution
Insiya was just two years old when her father snatched her away in September 2016. She has been living in India ever since, and despite years of diplomatic conversations between the two countries, nothing has moved. The frustration inside the Dutch government is no longer hidden. Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen openly acknowledged it in parliament, and Deputy Prime Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz was direct about why the old approach has stopped working.
For too long, she explained, the case had been treated as a routine consular matter. That framing, she said, was clearly not cutting it anymore. The delegation now heading to India is expected to engage with the issue in a far more serious and substantive way — specifically working to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Insiya and her mother, Nadia Rashid. Yeşilgöz called it a genuinely different approach from anything tried before.
The Dutch parliament's lower house, the Tweede Kamer, has thrown its full weight behind the effort. A motion was adopted this week asking the King to personally raise the case with Modi. The King is scheduled to host Modi for lunch on Saturday, and the royal couple has previously expressed deep sympathy for Nadia Rashid's situation.
Court Convictions Are Final — But Insiya Remains Out of Reach
While diplomacy continues to inch forward, the Dutch legal system has already delivered its verdict. The Dutch Supreme Court recently upheld the convictions of five individuals found guilty of orchestrating Insiya's abduction. Her father, Shehzad Hemani, was tried in absentia and handed a sentence of 8.5 years in prison as the mastermind behind the violent kidnapping.
His attempt to challenge the ruling failed. The Supreme Court ruled that a suspect who voluntarily avoids trial or refuses to appear cannot automatically claim the right to participate via video call. His fear of imprisonment if he returned to the Netherlands, the court noted, did not change that conclusion.
The others convicted each played specific roles. Former police officer Huibert V. received nine months for surveilling Nadia Rashid on the day of the abduction and tipping off the others. Robert B. was sentenced to three years for assaulting Insiya's aunt with an electroshock weapon and stunning a neighbor who tried to intervene. Hemani's cousin Imran S. was convicted in absentia and sentenced to four years, while Daniel C. and Erik S. received the same. Erik S., a fugitive until recently, was arrested last month in Riga, Latvia. His daughter Liz S. received a four-week jail term and community service for acting as a getaway driver. Willem V. was given one year in prison for putting the entire plan together.
The Netherlands and India are currently working toward a broader strategic partnership, but not everyone is willing to move forward without conditions. The BBB party, led by Caroline van der Plas, argued that cooperation should be paused until Insiya is returned home. Foreign Minister Berendsen pushed back, calling that step too extreme and insisting diplomacy remains the most realistic path forward.
