Zambian woman dies after being handed over by Pak; MEA asked to allow autopsy

A day after a Zambian woman, Twala Keltha (30), who was handed over by Pakistan in a semi-conscious state, died at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here, the district administration has asked the Union government for a no-objection certificate to go ahead with autopsy to know the cause.

On Friday (June 26) morning, Pakistani authorities had sent her back through the Attari-Wagah international border because she didn't have Pakistani visa. Forced to spend the entire previous night across the border, she had got unwell and on Saturday (June 27) died in Amritsar.

Amritsar (rural) senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jasdeep Singh said the woman belonging to the southern African country had come to Attari on Thursday (June 25) evening aboard a Delhi-Lahore bus and been told not to continue her journey until she got Pakistani visa. "When Pakistani officials said they'd grant her visa an on arrival, she was allowed to cross over, but then they told the Indian authorities to take her back when the border had closed and the Indian officials had left; so she had to spend an entire night on the Pakistani side," he added.

On the Friday morning, when Pakistan handed her to the Indian officials, she was in a semi-conscious state. She was moved to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, where she died at Saturday night. Since her body is in a local mortuary, the police have approached the Union external affairs and home ministries for no-objection certificate required for autopsy. "Since there is no external injury on her body, a post-mortem examination is necessary to know the cause of death," said the SSP.

News agencies had reported on Saturday that Pakistani Rangers had found the woman semi-conscious on a road near the international border on Friday morning before handing her over to India; and that she had travelled to India on a business project on the invitation of a Mumbai-based business house.