Before boarding the flight in Karachi, a beaming Geeta, clad in a red and white salwar-kameez, used sign language to thank the Pakistani people for hosting her and caring for her.
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The filmmaker, whose movie sparked the hunt for Geeta’s family, Kabir Khan, told Indian media that he was touched to see the way she had been cared for in Pakistan.
External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, who was present on the occasion, also complimented Bilqis and the Edhi Foundation for the love and affection that they have showered on Geeta.
She, however, refused to answer questions on whether Geeta’s homecoming will help improve relations between India and Pakistan.
However, the family living in the Indian state of Bihar said that their daughter was married and had a son when she left home.
Geeta warmly embraced the Prime Minister when she met him this evening, hours after returning from Pakistan.
Swaraj will brief the media at 3pm today with insights about Geeta’s landing.
Geeta, who is en route to India from Pakistan, will be felicitated by Pakistan High Commission at Indira Gandhi worldwide Airport, reports CNN-IBN.
“We are absolutely sure that Geeta is our Heera”.
Geeta, who has speech and hearing impairments, was about 11 when she is believed to have strayed into Pakistan. She was accompanied by five members of the Edhi Foundation which has been fostering her for all these years.
Geeta is being escorted to Delhi by Bilqees Edhi, the wife of the organisation’s founder, and Saba Edhi, her daughter-in-law.
The Indian government vowed to bring Geeta home, and authorities found many families who said she could be their daughter.
In response, Swaraj promised to invite her for Geeta’s wedding whenever she chooses to marry. “But the DNA tests will confirm this”, Fahad said.
She was adopted by the Edhi Foundation’s Bilquees Edhi and has lived with her in Karachi. “The DNA test will happen today”.
She is going to be cared for at the shelter house until her family is followed in the event the evaluations are negative, officials said.
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Mahato and other family members did not get to meet her on Monday, before she was whisked away from the airport.
