Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Saturday that India is completing all the necessary formalities to bring back an Indian woman stuck in Karachi. "We are completing the necessary formalities to bring Geeta back to India," the minister tweeted. The deaf and dumb woman had accidentally strayed across the border to Pakistan in 2003 when she was just 11 years old. She was subsequently handed over to a non-government organization, the Edhi Foundation in Karachi, where she has been staying for the past 15 years.
Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan T.C.A. Raghavan has already met Geeta at the Edhi Foundation in Karachi and initiated the formalities to bring her back. Her case came to light following a recent Bollywood movie apparently based on her story. According to a series of tweets by Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, four families hailing from Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, and UP have claimed Geeta as their lost daughter.
"Geeta in Karachi - During last few days four families from Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, and UP have claimed Geeta as their daughter," Sushma Swaraj tweeted. "I am requesting the Chief Ministers of these states to verify and report. Geeta conveyed to Indian High Commissioner by gestures that they are seven brothers and sisters," the Indian Minister tweeted. She also conveyed that she had visited a temple with her father. Then she wrote down "We are completing the necessary formalities to bring Geeta back to India. With these details, please help locate Geeta's family. This should further help in locating Geeta's family," the tweet said.