The real life Munni is finally living her Bajrangi Bhaijaan moment. The 23-year-old Hindu girl, with hearing and speech impairment, has returned to India after living for over ten years in Pakistan. Geeta had accidentally crossed the Indo-Pak border when she was about 7 to 8 years old.
Geeta arrived at New Delhi on Monday morning with 5 members of the Edhi family via Pakistan International Airlines, to be reunited with her long lost kin in India. While in Karachi, Geeta was kept under the care of the Edhi Foundation. After living with her foster family for over a decade, Geeta was accompanied back home with Bilqees Edhi, her foster mother.
The Indian High Commission, in Islamabad, had said said Geeta will be handed over to her Indian family once the DNA test matches are confirmed. “If the DNA test of the family (who claims to be Geeta’s family) matches with Geeta’s DNA, she will be handed over to them. If the DNA test does not match, Geeta will be taken care by a good organisation till she meets her family,” confirmed PK Jain, the second secretary of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan.
Geeta was received by senior diplomats of Pakistan High Commission at Indira Gandhi International airport. To celebrate this extraordinary homecoming, Geeta and the Edhi family will be given a warm welcome by Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Monday evening.
Fahad Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said that the Indian authorities had assured them that in case the DNA tests came back negative, Geeta would be placed in safe custody. “She has been with us for so many years, she is like a family member and we would like her to stay with us. But obviously she wants to be in her country and with her real family,” said Fahad.
Geeta’s parents are overwhelmed and celebrations have already begun at home. Geeta had identified her father, siblings, and step-mother in a photograph that was sent to her by the Indian High Commission. Janardhan Mahto is in Delhi to receive her first born daughter who he lost in a fair in 2004 and who he fondly remembers as calling Heera.
Geeta is currently at the Ministry of External Affairs India, where she will meet Sushma Swaraj:
Indian girl from Pakistan Geeta reaches Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi to meet EAM @SushmaSwaraj pic.twitter.com/l74Uc5iOAb
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 26, 2024
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