Senate hears of Pakistani woman’s plight in Bangalore

ISLAMABAD: The issue of a Pakistani-origin woman languishing in a Bangalore detention centre along with her daughter was raised in the Senate on Monday. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Senator Irfan Siddiqui brought up the issue of Sumaira. She is counting the days of her return home, according to him.

According to a BBC report, a family with Pakistani citizenship was living in Qatar. In Qatar, Pakistani girl Sumaira married an Indian Muslim boy who took her to India without a visa. Later on, Sumaira was arrested and subsequently sentenced to three years in prison. Two months later, she gave birth to a baby girl. Her husband left her during her captivity. After her release from prison, Sumaira is in a Bangalore detention centre with her ailing daughter.

Sumaira's lawyer Sahana Biswa Patna said that she had been trying to contact the Pakistani embassy in Delhi and the Foreign Ministry in Pakistan for the last six months to verify Sumaira's Pakistani citizenship but to no avail.

Irfan Siddiqui said that while expressing sympathy with Muskan, something should also be done for Pakistan's daughter Sumaira. He asked Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shahzad Wasim to take up the matter with the government. The Senate chairman issued a ruling that Senator Irfan Siddiqui and the Leader of the House should work out a plan of action in this regard.