“We have showed the picture to Geeta and she says they are her family…”
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The story of mute and deaf Geeta has taken another twist, her stepmother claims Geeta is not only married but is the mother to a son as well. After reaching Lahore, she was spotted by Pakistan police and later was sent to shelter home from where she was sent to Edhi Foundation in Karanchi.
Geeta is grateful to the Edhi Foundation for caring for her for 15 years and making efforts to reunite her with her family across the border. “Umesh and Geeta had a son, Santosh Mahto, who is around 12 years old now”, The Times of India newspaper quoted a villager as saying.
A new ray of hope for the woman, known only as Ms Geeta, came after the Indian High Commission in Islamabad sent her a photograph of a family, whom she said she recognised. He said that her DNA would be conducted in India before her handover to the family.
Gyanendra Purohit, Director, Mukh Badhir Organisation, Indore, said during a video conferencing, Geeta conveyed through sign language that she would be coming to India on October 26.
A senior government official told The Hindu that since there were no documents on Geeta to prove that she was an Indian citizen, they would apply Section 13 of the Indian citizenship Act to facilitate her stay in India. She will be accompanied by Bilquis Edhi, the wife of Edhi Foundation founder Abdul Sattar Edhi.
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Geeta, who has speech and hearing impairments, was about 11 when she is believed to have strayed into Pakistan.
