Greater Noida: Do not want to go back, will get married here, says Pak woman held by police

The woman allegedly entered India illegally via Nepal on night of May 11.

After three days of questioning by local police, the Pakistani woman who allegedly entered India illegally via Nepal to marry a Greater Noida man, was arrested on Tuesday, along with the man and his father, police said.

The suspects in custody. (HT Photo)

The three suspects were produced before a magistrate at the Gautam Budh Nagar district court in Surajpur and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. The woman’s four minor children will stay with their mother, as directed by the magistrate, said senior officers associated with the case.

After being alerted by a local lawyer about a Pakistan national residing in Greater Noida, the police apprehended the woman Seema Gulam Haider (27), her friend Sachin Meena (22) and his father Netrapal Singh (51) on Saturday.

The woman was accompanied by her four minor children -- three daughters and a son -- and they too were detained, said police.

The woman allegedly entered India illegally via Nepal on night of May 11 and took a bus to Greater Noida to marry Meena, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar colony in Rabupura, whom she came in contact with through online gaming, said the police. She has been residing in Rabupura since May 13.

“While Haider has been booked for illegally entering India, Meena and his father have been booked for helping and providing shelter to a foreign national who entered the country illegally. The three have been booked under relevant provisions of The Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreigners’ Act,” said SM Khan, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

Before being taken to the court on Tuesday, Haider and Meena spoke to reporters and said they loved each other. Haider, who belongs to Sindh in Pakistan, said, “Sachin and I love each other and we have decided to spend our lives together. I came to India on his directions to marry him. I do not want to go back and will continue to stay in India.”

She said she met Meena on an online gaming platform in 2020 and later started speaking to each other on social media platforms. “We used to play the video games all night and talk to each other. We met for the first time this year in March, in Nepal. That was when we decided to spend our lives together,” she told reporters.

When asked how she managed to sneak into India, she said, “Sachin and I searched for routes from Pakistan to India on YouTube and found that Nepal was the safest option; and we planned accordingly.”

Meena, while speaking to the media, urged the Indian government to help him get married to Haider. “Our only intention is to marry each other as we love each other. I am willing to accept Seema’s four children as well,” he said.

Police said during questioning, the couple revealed that they stayed at a hotel in Kathmandu for a week this March. “Haider got married in 2014 and had four children with her husband -- the youngest one was born in 2019. Her husband used to work as a mason in Karachi and went to Saudi Arabia in 2019. She started playing online games, and came in contact with Meena. This year in March, the couple decided to meet in Nepal. While Haider came to Kathmandu via a connecting flight from Sharjah, UAE, Meena took a direct bus from Delhi,” said DCP Khan.

Police said Haider came without her children and the couple stayed at a hotel in Kathmandu for a week. “While in Kathmandu, they decided to get married. Meena asked Haider to come to India with her children so that they could all live together,” said Khan.

On May 13 this year, Haider reached Greater Noida via Kathmandu on a Nepal visa. “This time as well, Haider entered Kathmandu through Sharjah, UAE, and then took a private bus from Pokhara to Delhi and another to Greater Noida. She travelled with her four children -- the eldest is seven and the youngest four. As she was with her children, and gave her name as Seema, no one doubted her nationality,” said Sudhir Kumar, station house officer, Rabupura police station.

The officer said she and her children were residing with Meena in a room he rented for ₹2,500 a month in Ambedkar Nagar colony, Rabupura. “Meena informed his family that Haider is from Pakistan and that he intends to wed her. The family wanted to get the two married as soon as possible and so they approached an advocate, who alerted the police after going through Seema’s documents,” said the officer, adding that Meena earned ₹9,000 a month by selling groceries in town.

On Saturday evening, the couple was detained for questioning. “Haider has studied till class 5 but knows how to use the internet well. She is fond of playing games and we found at least 35 to 40 video games on two of her mobile phones. She had Indian sim cards in both phones,” said the SHO.

Khan said the statements of Haider, Meena and his father are being corroborated. “Central agencies and the Uttar Pradesh anti terror squad have been alerted. We have also communicated with the Bureau of Immigration to inform the woman’s family, as according to her, no one from her family knows that she is in India,” said Khan, adding that the woman has a brother and two sisters in Pakistan.

Among the recoveries made by police from Haider are two video cassettes of her wedding , one family registration certificate, four birth certificates of her children, an ID card issued by the Pakistan National Database and Registration Authority, five vaccination cards and one bus ticket from Pokhara to Delhi.

“Haider says she separated from her husband by giving him ”talaaq” by word; but she was unable to show any documents to that effect. She also told investigators that she has not met her husband since 2019,” said SHO Kumar.

He said to afford the transportation costs, Haider sold a plot of land in her native town for ₹12 lakh.

“The passwords of the social media accounts of Haider and Meena are each other’s names, and the two also used each other’s social media accounts for playing games. Seema is fond of making TikTok videos and has over 800 such videos on her phone,” said an officer familiar with the investigation.