American woman abandoned by Pakistani lover demands $100,000 to go back

The American woman who came to Karachi after falling in love with a 19-year-old young man has demanded $100,000 from the government of Pakistan to return to her home country.

She made this demand during a press conference on Friday at the Chhipa Welfare Organisation's head office on Sharea Faisal, where she was accompanied by Chhipa Foundation's founder Ramzan Chhipa.

The American woman, 33-year-old Onya Andrew Robinson, made the unexpected money demand of $100,000. "Give me money. The government should give me $100, 000," she said. She claimed that she had already married the Pakistani man online. “I did not marry for money; I have my own money. I am looking for my husband, with whom I planned to move to Dubai.”

Meanwhile, Chhipa stated that the American woman was not mentally stable. Addressing the young man whom she had come to marry, the social worker urged him to step forward and resolve the matter.

For the past few days, social, electronic and print media have been abuzz with the news story of Onya who claims that she travelled from the United States to Karachi for love. Social media has been flooded with discussions about the American woman and there is a new update about her almost every day. Although the woman is in a tragic situation, her ordeal has become a source of comic relief to social media users who have been sharing memes about her.

Her statements, that sometimes appear contradictory to her earlier claims, and activities have been adding to the drama on a daily basis. Before demanding S100,000 for her return on Friday, she demanded a weekly allowance of $5,000 on Thursday.

However, not many people know that she has been in Karachi since October 11. She was earlier living with her purported husband. The drama only unfolded when the young man, identified as Nidal Memon, and his family left and locked their flat in Garden West prompting her to live in the parking area and other places. It is being claimed that the youth’s family did not provide consent to their marriage and took him away with them.

The media, government, police, and NGOs have given significant attention to her case, attempting multiple times to send her back. However, she has refused to go back despite the fact that her visa has expired.

The youth and his family are out of reach. Security forces and flat administration have been unable to contact them so far. After a protest on Thursday, the woman attempted to move to a guest house in PECHS Block 6, but the guest house management refused to provide her accommodation, following which she approached the Tipu Sultan police station from where the Chhipa Foundation took her to shelter home.

“The woman is like my sister and I have arranged accommodation for her. She can live here as long as she wants and volunteers would stay with her and would look after her," Ramzan told the press conference.

Sources from the Chhipa Foundation later told The News that some time after the press conference on Friday, she paid a visit to her lover’s flat to check if he had returned. Later, some reports claimed that the woman had agreed to go back to the US but Chhipa Foundation spokesperson Chaudhry Shahid denied such reports. He said the woman insists that she should be paid $100,000 before she goes back.

Son’s statement

Meanwhile, a statement of one of the sons of the American woman has also gone viral on social media.

Jeremiah Andrew Robinson, who claimed to be Onya’s son, stated in a video statement that his mother travelled to Pakistan to meet a man and his family. "She was supposed to return after two weeks, but she never came back."

He added that he tried to convince her to return, but failed. "My brother and I even booked her return ticket." He also claimed that his mother suffered from some mental illness, and her ability to think and understand was impaired.