A young deaf and mute Indian woman who strayed into Pakistan more than twelve years ago flew to Delhi to be reunited with the people she believes are her family, the charity caring for her said, in a case famed by Bollywood.
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Later, Geeta also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here this evening.
At both meetings, Geeta was accompanied by members of Edhi Foundation.
Geeta smiled and waved as she was greeted at Delhi Airport by scores of wellwishers.
In addition to the family in the pictures that Geeta identified, Indian media have reported that another man is claiming to be Geeta’s father. Her story came to light after the release of Salman Khan starrer “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, in which the eponymous hero unites a girl separated from her Pakistani mother during a visit to India.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj thanked Edhi Foundation founders Abdul Sattar and Bilquis Edhi for taking care of Geeta and safeguarding her religion. “We will make her sit again with them (Mahatos) so that she recollects her memory”, the minister had said. “If the DNA doesn’t match, the Indian authorities will continue the search for her family”, the charity rep says.
While welcoming Geeta, Modi said “It is truly wonderful to have you back home”. And it was the Edhi family that personally made Geeta feel like she was at home for nearly a decade.
The popularity of the film and the subsequent coverage of Geeta’s story led a family in the eastern Indian province of Bihar to come forward. In Karachi, Geeta was given an emotional farewell as she boarded a plane.
In reply to a question, Swaraj said Geeta did not accept the Mahato family’s claim that she was already married and that she even had children.
On Friday, India’s foreign ministry spokesman rejected the suggestion that Geeta’s return had been arranged too hastily, given her ties with the family were not yet established.
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India today insisted that the Edhi foundation, a Pakistan-based non-profit group that provided a home to Geeta, had accepted a donation of Rs 1 crore from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
