Close X
Sunday, September 29, 2024
ADVT 
India

India Working To Bring Back Gita, Locate Family: Sushma Swaraj

IANS, 08 Aug, 2015 01:36 PM
    Gita, a 23-year-old hearing and speech-impaired Indian woman stranded in Pakistan for the past 15 years, will be brought back to India and efforts are on to locate her family, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday.
     
    In a series of tweets, Sushma Swaraj said the government was completing the "necessary formalities to bring Gita back to India".
     
    Sushma Swaraj tweeted that during the past few days, "four families from Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP have claimed Gita as their daughter" and that she has requested the chief ministers of the respective states to "verify and report".
     
    "Gita conveyed to the Indian High Commissioner by gestures that they are seven brothers and sisters. She also conveyed that she had visited a temple with her father. Then she wrote down 'Vaishno Devi'."
     
    "With these details, please help locate Gita's family," the minister tweeted.
     
    Gita's story has the elements of recent Bollywood blockbuster 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' in which actor Salman Khan crosses the border to escort a six-year-old mute Pakistani girl back to her village.
     
    Since her story hit the limelight earlier this week, four families have come forward to claim that Gita was their long-lost daughter.
     
    A family from Uttar Pradesh and one from Jharkhand came forward on Friday.
     
    Ramraj and Anara Devi, who hail from Dhamohan village in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district, claimed Gita was their daughter Savita who went missing from an ashram in Bihar 11 years ago, according to media reports.
     
    The couple approached the authorities after seeing TV news reports and pictures of Gita, who they say is one of their six children who went missing at the age of nine.
     
    A couple from Bokaro in Jharkhand claimed Gita was their fourth child Kokia Kumari who went missing more than a decade ago.
     
    Earlier, another couple from Amritsar claimed Gita was their daughter Pooja, who they used to call Guddi.
     

    MORE India ARTICLES

    500 days on, crusaders keep Dec 16 fight alive

    500 days on, crusaders keep Dec 16 fight alive
    "Shapath lo, balaatkaar mukt Bharat ki" (Pledge for a rape-free India), reads a banner at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the national capital. Inscribed below is "Damini", referring to the Dec 16, 2012, gang-rape victim. Next to it stands a lit lamp, leaving you feeling calm despite the sweltering heat.

    500 days on, crusaders keep Dec 16 fight alive

    Election Special: After elections, AAP will groom new leaders

    Election Special: After elections, AAP will groom new leaders
    Realising that it cannot keep solely depending on Arvind Kejriwal after a gruelling Lok Sabha poll, the fledgling AAP has begun preparing its new rank of leadership.

    Election Special: After elections, AAP will groom new leaders

    In tiring election season, Modi made a style statement

    In tiring election season, Modi made a style statement
    For a man who confesses to a penchant to "dress well" and claims his mixing and matching of colours is "god gifted", BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is one of the few Indian politicians who have effortlessly managed to get discerning people's appreciation and women's attention by his sartorial elegance.

    In tiring election season, Modi made a style statement

    Meerut violence: FIRs against 200 rioters lodged

    Meerut violence: FIRs against 200 rioters lodged
    A dozen criminal cases were filed Sunday against 200 unidentified rioters for violence here Saturday in which about 50 people, including a senior police officer and two media persons, were injured.

    Meerut violence: FIRs against 200 rioters lodged

    Rahul's No to Third Front: Ploughing a lonely furrow?

    Rahul's No to Third Front: Ploughing a lonely furrow?
    The implications of Rahul Gandhi's summary dismissal of the idea of Congress support for the Third Front are not clear. Nor is it clear whether the Congress vice president's views are the party's last word on the subject.

    Rahul's No to Third Front: Ploughing a lonely furrow?

    Will there be a surprise end to Modi’s tale?

    Will there be a surprise end to Modi’s tale?
    What a roller coaster it has been since June 2013 when all senior BJP leaders assembled in Goa to strategize for the coming elections. Instead of discussing the roadmap with senior leaders, Narendra Modi and his cohorts imposed on them a fait accompli: Modi will be the head of the party’s election campaign.

    Will there be a surprise end to Modi’s tale?