New Delhi: A 60-year-old Pakistani woman was arrested from West Bengal on Saturday. She was living in Hooghly district for 45 years, a report in India Today said. The woman has been identified as Fatema Bibi, who crossed over into India in 1980. The woman came to the country on a tourist Visa and then settled in Chandannagar with her husband and two daughters.
Bibi came to India with father, married in India
Police said that Bibi came to India with her father from Rawalpindi in 1980. Two years later, in 1982, she married Muzaffar Mallick. Mallick owns a bakery in Chandranagar. The couple has lived in the city ever since their marriage.
Police records however mark her as “missing” just a year after her arrival in India. There is no other information regarding her immigration status. The woman has now been arrested, following a crackdown on Pakistan nationals living in India, following the terror attack in Pahalgam. The terrorist attack in the picturesque location of Pahalgam left 26 people, mostly tourists dead.
Following the Central government’s directive to track Pakistani nationals living in India, West Bengal Police started verifying the antecedents of all Pakistan nationals living in the state. During investigations it came to light that Fatema Bibi had been unaccounted for in government records for over 4 decades.
The woman was arrested from a 2-storey house, owned by her husband. Neighbours expressed shock at the arrest. They said that they were not aware about her foreign origins and that she had long been a part of the community.
Some neighbours also expressed sympathy with her. They said that the woman does not have anyone in Pakistan now and her whole life is here, with her family and daughters. Another neighbour also mentioned that the lady needs knee surgery and the Indian authorities should release her after completing the legal process.
Bibi’s husband, Mallick in her defence claimed that she is a registered voter in Chandannagar Municipal Corporation. He also claimed that his wife had an Aadhar Card and PAN card and had already applied for Indian citizenship. However the process of granting citizenship was not yet complete, he claimed.
Police have said that they are in the process of completing legal formalities and her case will be dealt with according to rules under immigration laws.
