Differences emerge between Geeta, pretender family

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KARACHI: The story of Geeta, the stranded Indian woman in Pakistan, has taken a new turn after differences of facts surfaced on Saturday.

The claimant relatives of Geeta say that she is married and has a son. Her real name is Heera. On the other hand, Geeta has denied being married and stands aloof from son.

Faisal Edhi says Geeta writes her name Guddi in Sanskrit. While, Indian embassy has said that she could be returned to the family after DNA test.

He said she had categorically denied having a baby or being married. ‘She was 11 year old when she was received by Edhi Centre.

Residents of Kabira Dhap, a village in Indian state Bihar, say the 23-year-old deaf-mute girl is from the village and she is married and has a son as well.

They say Geeta is the daughter of Shanti Devi and Janardhan alias Jainandan Mahto, a daily wager who worked as a mason in Punjab. Geeta went missing from Kartarpur near Jalandhar, where she had gone to a ‘Baisakhi mela’.

Villagers said Mahto married off Geeta to Umesh Mahto of the same village when she was a minor. Like his father-in-law, Umesh too worked at different places in Punjab. ‘Umesh and Geeta had a son, Santosh Mahto, who is around 12 years old now,’ a villager said. Their present whereabouts could not be ascertained.

The Indian woman stranded in Pakistan for a decade had seemingly identified her family in photos sent from across the border.

Efforts to find the family began in August after India accepted the woman, named Geeta, was one of its citizens.

Geeta, who has speech and hearing impairments, was about 11 when she is believed to have strayed into Pakistan.