Geeta, deaf-mute girl stranded in Pakistan, finally returns home

Her plane from Karachi has landed at Delhi. Geeta 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.

NEW DELHI:  Geeta, the deaf and mute girl who was stuck in Pakistan for over 15 years, has finally returned home to India. She strayed into Pakistan more than 15 years ago.

Her plane from Karachi has landed at Delhi. Geeta 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.
The young girl was received by Indian and Pakistani diplomats at the Indira Gandhi International airport on Monday morning. She will meet Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in the afternoon.
Geeta, 23, was adopted by the Edhi Foundation's Bilquees Edhi and was living with them in Karachi. Geeta has identified her father, stepmother and siblings from a photograph sent to her by the Indian high commission in Islamabad.
Known only as Geeta, she was unable to identify herself or say where she came from when she wandered over one of the world's most militarised borders from neighbouring India.
Now believed to be 23, she had remained in Pakistan under the care of the country's largest welfare organisation, the Edhi Foundation, living in a shelter in the port city of Karachi.
Even the name "Geeta" was given to her by Edhi staff.
"We are happy that finally she is going home," Faisal Edhi, son of the foundation's founder Abdul Sattar Edhi, told media outside the charity's office in downtown Karachi.
Dressed in a red and white salwar and shirt, Geeta seemed happy but composed.
She thanked the Edhis and the media in traditional Hindu style by joining her palms together, while wearing a lively smile.
After repeated false leads in the effort to find her family, Geeta's story received a publicity boost in August when a Bollywood film with a similar plot became a smash hit.
"Bajrangi Bhaijaan", featuring Indian superstars Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor, told the story of a young Pakistani woman trapped in India.
The Indian government vowed to bring her home, and authorities turned up many families saying that Geeta could be their daughter.
She claimed to recognise one unnamed family from Bihar state, and has kept their framed picture in a steel case ever since.
But questions remain, with the family saying that the daughter they lost was married and had a baby when she disappeared, though Geeta is believed to have only been aged 11 or 12 when she was found in the eastern city of Lahore by Pakistani police.
Geeta is being escorted to Delhi by Bilqees Edhi, the wife of the organisation's founder, and Saba Edhi, her daughter-in-law.
She will undergo DNA testing in India before being handed over to the family, Bilqees Edhi said.
Indian authorities have said even if the DNA testing proves Geeta is not related to the family from Bihar, they will place her in a "suitable institution".
The Edhi family said they planned to remain in touch with Geeta.
"We are not parting, we could go there to see her and she could come here," Faisal Edhi said, adding that the foundation had also arranged to communicate with Geeta through Skype.
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit will also host her in the evening. Geeta is accompanied by members from the Edhi Foundation, which looked after her across the border. An Indian diplomat from the High Commission in Islamabad will also accompany her.
"Great, Geeta is returning to her native home tomorrow. We wish her healthy and prosperous life. Edhis are superb, a pride of Pakistan," Basit had tweeted on Sunday.
"Geeta will come back to India on October 26. Five members of Edhi Foundation will come with her, who will be treated as state guests," said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
According to sources, Geeta had identified her father, step-mother and siblings from a photograph sent to her by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. They reportedly live in Bihar.
At least four families had come forward to claim Geeta as their child. The MEA then asked for family photographs, which were sent her.

The government plans to carry out a DNA test to verify Geeta's parentage, before she is sent to live with them. Till the DNA test results come, she will be kept at a government institution. (Agencies)

Source Yahoo India