A SEVEN-year-old girl was abducted from her father’s home and taken abroad.

An international child abduction investigation has been launched to try to find Nina Penwill, of Brighton, who has now not been seen for more than a year and is thought to have been taken to Lithuania by her mother Inesa Ivanova

Interpol is trying to trace Ms Ivanova and a European Arrest Warrant has been issued to arrest her on grounds of child abduction.

Nina’s name and her mother’s have been put on an international watch list in the hope they can be located.

Nina’s father Christian Penwill, 43, said: “It’s like a trauma, almost like a bereavement. I have a hole I can’t fill.

“Someone knows where she is.

“She was removed from my house in November 2018 without me knowing.

“I came home from a weekend away and she had gone.

“I contacted Sussex Police. It is now with Interpol.

“Her name is flagged so if she goes through a port or airport she should be found, but you can move freely across lots of Europe without having to show a passport.

“People assume she’s with her mother so must be safe.

“But to remove a child from her home and go on the run isn’t thinking clearly is it?”

Mr Penwill has been battling for a year to try to find his daughter and have her brought home.

Only now, more than 12 months after Nina went missing, he has been granted special permission to speak to the press about his daughter’s abduction in the hope of finding her.

Mr Penwill said his life had been put on hold by the search for his child and said her friends at Downs Junior School were desperate for her to be returned.

He said: “She was a super baby and then a very friendly and happy little girl. Sensitive, like most kids.

“She had a huge group of friends and was very active.

“She loved to ride her bike and was always talking about horses – I don’t know where that came from.

“She was a really happy little girl, very well liked and we had a large community of friends in Brighton.

“To start with I had to convince myself it was like she was on holiday, but the last six months have been the worst.

“I have supportive family and friends but nothing helps.

“Everywhere I go in Brighton, If I walk past the Level or down The Lanes I can burst into tears.

“If I just hear a tiny bit of music or walk past the Flour Pot where we used to go for hot chocolate – there’s constant reminders wherever I go.

“I used to have a social circle of parents at the school.

“That camaraderie around drop off times, people are still there but they don’t know what to say.”

Just over a week ago Nina turned eight without her father to wish her a happy birthday,

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “On January 24, 2019, we received a report that a girl then aged seven (now eight) living in Brighton had been taken out of the UK without the authority of her father and in contravention of Family Court Orders on 6 December 2018 and 22 January 2019, prohibiting her from being taken out of the UK.

“Our enquiries showed that the girl had left the UK on 23 January.

“A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) has been granted by Brighton magistrates for the arrest of a named person on a charge of child abduction.

“So far the person has not been traced and is not believed to have returned to the UK since January 2019.

“There is no suggestion at this time that the child in question is at any known risk of harm.”

The identity of a child in family case is normally restricted.

The High Court has given Mr Penwill special permission to speak to The Argus in the hope that it will lead to the return of his daughter.

Anyone with information can contact Sussex Police online at https://www.sussex.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/ or by calling 101, quoting serial 1181 of 23/10/18.