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Swaraj asks Geeta about her wish to get married

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Press Trust of India Bhopal
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Geeta, the mute and deaf woman who returned to India from Pakistan in 2015, and enquired about her wish to get married.

Twenty-three-year old Geeta went missing on July 6 for about 30 minutes from the institute for speech and hearing impaired in Indore where she is living since October 2015 after her return from Pakistan.

She was traced by the police within 30 minutes after her disappearance at around 4 pm.

Swaraj, who played a pivotal role in getting Geeta back, yesterday met her in Indore and enquired about her well being.

According to director of the institute, Monika Punjabi Verma, Swaraj interacted with Geeta and spoke about her prospects of getting married.
 

"She (Swaraj) asked Geeta, how she was doing in studies? She also told Geeta that MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was excited and ready to extend all possible help to her to get married," Verma told PTI.

Verma said even two-and-a-half month ago, when Swaraj had met Geeta, she had asked about her wish to get married.

"I think Geeta showed willingness to enter into the wedlock," she said.

When asked about Geeta's sudden disappearance from the institute on Thursday, Verma said she had gone to a temple.

Geeta was reportedly just 7 or 8 years old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistan Rangers at the Lahore railway station.

She was adopted by Bilquis Edhi, a Pakistani philanthropist attached to the Edhi Foundation, and lived with her in Karachi till October 2015, before returning to India.

However, despite efforts officials have not been able to locate her family.

Several couples visited the institute in the recent past and claimed Geeta to be their daughter, but she did not recognise any of them.

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First Published: Jul 09 2017 | 8:22 PM IST

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