Stranded in Pakistan for 13 years, a deaf-mute Indian girl after wandering over one of the world’s most militarised borders arrived home to be reunited with the family on Monday which she has identified from photographs.
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Interacting with 23-year-old Geeta for nearly 20 minutes through a sign language interpreter, Kejriwal offered her every possible help as she begins her life anew in India.
Upon Geeta’s safe return to India, PM Modi thanked Pakistan and announced a donation of 10 million Indian rupees to Edhi Foundation. Wearing a red tunic, her head loosely covered with a matching stole, Geeta, now 23, carried a big bouquet of flowers given to her by officials from India’s Ministry of External Affairs. “Now it’s time for her to go home”, said Faisal Edhi, son of the founder of Edhi Foundation, a Pakistani charity that looked after the girl.
Before boarding a Pakistan worldwide Airline flight to the Indian capital, Geeta thanked the Pakistani people for hosting and taking care of her throughout the years.
After repeated false leads in the effort to find her family, Geeta’s story received a publicity boost in August after a Bollywood film with a similar plot became a smash hit.
While welcoming Geeta, Modi said “It is truly wonderful to have you back home”.
Janardhan Mahato, who has been identified by Geeta as her father, said he had no worries about undergoing a DNA test. Swaraj hailed Edhi foundation for respecting Geeta’s religious faith and bringing idols of various Gods for her. “The Mahato family was selected on the basis of Geeta responding positively to their photographs”. She was reportedly just 7 or 8 years old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistan Rangers 15 years ago at the Lahore railway station.
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After seeing her story on TV, a family from the eastern state of Bihar claimed that Geeta was their daughter and had been lost in a fair in the city of Ludhiana in Punjab, a state which borders Pakistan. After meeting her, he tweeted, “Welcome Geeta”.
