New Delhi: The 15-year long wait to return home from Pakistan will end on Monday for deaf-mute Indian national Geeta. Just like the protagonist in Bollywood film 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', Geeta was inspired to find her way back home and some good Samaritans in Pakistan took up her cause.
Geeta will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and also attend a dinner hosted by the Pakistan High Commission today. But her return is marked by many twists and turns.
An Indian lawyer had sought her repatriation, but a Karachi court ruled that she could return only through diplomatic channels. As her hope dwindled, the External Affairs Ministry took note of Network18's campaign along with Pakistan's Dunya News and made way for her return.
Indian Ambassador to Pakistan TCA Raghavan said, "Geeta will fly from Karachi to India on October 25."
The search for her family in India has already begun. Swaraj had tweeted to say that a couple from Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh had come forward and another couple from Bihar claimed that Geeta was their daughter.
Faisal Edhi, Geeta's guardian, said, "They have sent some pictures and Geeta recognised them. They sent pictures of her brother and sister too and she has identified them."
The family was finally traced to Saharsa in Bihar.
Geeta's reported father Janardhan Mahato said, "I thought she is dead. Then I saw on TV that she is alive and recognised her that she is my daughter. Then we went to Sushma Swaraj."
Mahato recounted the agony that his family went through after his daughter went missing and believed that the DNA test was a mere formality. "Geeta went missing in Jalandhar. She used to live with her husband. We don't know what he did to her but she disappeared. We looked everywhere in Punjab but couldn't find her. We went bankrupt looking for her everywhere. This was in 2002 or 2004 when she went missing. When my child is before me and is overjoyed and hugs us, that will be proof of our parentage. No DNA test can prove it."
Just when it was all falling into place, the plot twisted again. Geeta's version of how she was lost did not match with that of her reported father's. While he claimed that Geeta was married and has a child, she denied it. She was barely 11-year-old when she disappeared. Her foster family is worried.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "For conclusive proof we will conduct a DNA test. Geeta will be brought back to India. It is our duty to bring her back."
Ministry of External Affairs has written to AIIMS asking the hospital to collect the samples for the DNA test to confirm if Mahato is indeed Geeta's father. Dr Sudhir Gupta, Head of AIIMS Forensics Division, said, "We received a letter from MEA to assist in the DNA test. My team will be collecting the samples from Geeta and her family. This is to determine the parentage. We are fast tracking this test and the results will be out in 15-20 days."
As she returns to rolling cameras and an uncertain future, Geeta remains optimistic hoping for a happy ending with 'Bajarangi Bhaijaan' in real life too.
'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' Director Kabir Khan is happy that his film has contributed to the cause. "No box office record is more satisfying that a film has helped someone. No one imagined this real life case would have happened. Media and government on both sides took up the issue and Geeta is finally meeting her family. I am going to talk to Salman about this so that Geeta can meet us when she's back."
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