Critically ill Indian teenager Zarine Rentia whose plea to stay in the United Kingdom was turned down by Immigration authorities in February on the ground that her rare genetic condition could be treated in India, has returned home.
Rentia’s condition, Fanconi Bickel Syndrome, is reported to be in an advanced stage. She returned to India last week with her mother, Tasnim Rentia, who decided that she needed to be with her father and the extended family.
She was being treated in the Homerton Hospital in east London. One of the grounds for her bid to stay in the UK was that there were no medical facilities in India to treat her condition. A public campaign was organised on Rentia’s behalf, including an early day motion in the House of Commons. “If Zarine had been able to remain in the UK, her legal team and the Rentia Family Anti-Deportation group feel very confident that she would have won the case,” said her Lawyer.  Justice Herlihy said she had “enormous sympathy for Zarine” but was not satisfied her mother “has provided satisfactory evidence that Zarine’s symptoms cannot be treated in India”. This was the reason for her departure.