Today, after 15 long years Geeta, speech and hearing impaired who was strayed across the border in a train and was stranded in Pakistan. She made an emotional return to India to meet her family. Geeta flew into the international airport in Delhi on a Pakistan International Airlines flight from Karachi at 10.20am, accompanied by five representatives of the Edhi Foundation, including Bilqees Edhi, the Pakistani woman who cared for her and led a campaign for her return to India. Before boarding the flight in Karachi, a beaming Geeta, dressed in a red and white salwar-kameez, used sign language to express thankfulness to the Pakistani people for hosting her and caring for her.
Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan’s largest charity, told reporters they would stay in touch with Geeta through social media and even visit her. “She is not really separating from us,” he said.Geeta, believed to be 23 now, was received at the airport by officials from the external affairs ministry and senior Pakistani diplomats. In a rare gesture, the Indian government will treat the representatives of the Karachi-based charity as state guests.
