Father Davy De Witte is asking Prime Minister Bart De Wever to raise his six-year-old daughter Raïa’s case with India’s Narendra Modi during talks. A court recognised him as her biological and legal father and ordered contact. Her mother took Raïa to India in February 2025 before their first meeting. India is outside the Hague Convention.
Davy De Witte, a Belgian father who has never met his six-year-old daughter, is asking Prime Minister Bart De Wever to raise her case with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during De Wever’s visit to India this week. Raïa De Witte was taken to India by her mother in February 2025, two days before the child was due to meet her father for the first time.
A Belgian court has recognised De Witte as Raïa’s biological and legal father and ordered that contact be established. An international alert was issued over concerns that the child had been taken abroad without his consent. The mother and daughter’s current whereabouts are unknown.
Background
De Witte and Raïa’s mother(Nisha) began a relationship in 2014. Raïa’s mother did not hide the fact that she is already married in India. Nisha disclosed her marriage to him early on and told him she intended to get a divorce. However, she kept postponing the separation during their four-year relationship. Despite her marital status, they agreed to start a family together in early 2019. Shortly after becoming pregnant in April 2019, Nisha suddenly left De Witte during the summer and returned to live with her legal husband before the baby was born. Because she remained legally married at the time of birth, Belgian law automatically assigned her husband as the legal father on the birth certificate. De Witte then began legal proceedings to establish paternity and arrange contact with Raïa.
Legal obstacles
The youth court ordered that contact between De Witte and Raïa should begin and imposed a €500-a-day penalty on the mother if she refused. However, India is not a party to the Hague Convention on international child abduction, limiting the legal options available to Belgian authorities seeking the child’s return.
Government response
De Witte has emailed De Wever, asking him to put Raïa’s name on the agenda of his talks with Modi. Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has contacted him and said it is following the case while awaiting the outcome of the judicial proceedings. De Witte hopes the prime ministers’ meeting can lead to greater cooperation between the Belgian and Indian authorities.
