Jailed Pakistani mother, daughter to be sent home

A Pakistani woman and her minor daughter who are languishing in Indian jails since November 2012 after her husband allegedly abandoned them in Delhi will soon be repatriated

in Indian jails since November 2012, a Pakistani woman and her minor daughter are all set to be repatriated after Islamabad finally accepted the duo’s nationality.

The Jammu and Kashmir high court on Saturday directed the central government to deport Rubeena and her daughter by August 21.

Kashmir’s prominent human rights lawyer Mir Shafaqat, who accidentally met them in 2014 during his visit to Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail and took up their case free of cost, told HT that the Centre confirmed receiving a communication from the Pakistan high commission accepting the duo as its citizens.

A resident of Musa Colony in Pakistan’s Hyderabad, Rubeena had arrived in Delhi in November 2012 for the treatment of asthma. She was accompanied by her husband and her fourmonth-old daughter. In Delhi, her husband disappeared with their passports, visas and money, leaving the two behind.

Rubeena travelled to J&K after some locals in Delhi, moved by her plight, contributed money to pay for her visit to Wagah border so that she could cross over to Pakistan. Her journey came undone when authorities in the neighbouring country refused over want of proper documents.

Rubeena landed behind bars when security forces in Kanachak, Jammu, arrested her on November 6, 2012, under Section 14 of the Foreigner’s Act. At the end of her six-month sentence, she was booked again, this time under Public Safety Act, as authorities failed to deport her after Islamabad refused to identify them as Pakistani citizens.