Indian woman who married Facebook friend in Pakistan to return home; here's why

The 34-year-old Indian mother of two children, Anju, who had travelled to a remote village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to marry her Facebook friend, is set to return to India after getting clearance from the Pakistan government, her Pakistani husband Nasrullah told news agency PTI.

Earlier in August, Pakistan had extended Anju's visa by one year who crossed the border to marry her Facebook friend. Anju, who now goes by the name of Fatima after converting to Islam on July 25 married her 29-year-old friend Nasrullah.

"We are waiting for the NOC (No-Objection Certificate) from the interior ministry in Islamabad for which we have already applied. The NOC process is a bit lengthy and it takes time to complete," Anju’s Pakistani husband told PTI. As soon as the documents are completed for in and out at the Wagah Border point, Anju will travel to India, he added.

Also Read: ‘Let her die there,’ says father of Anju, now married to Facebook friend Nasrullah in Pakistan

He also told the agency that Fatima will return back to Pakistan after meeting her children. "She will certainly come back as Pakistan is her home now," he added.

Anju aka Fatima was was earlier married to Arvind, who is in Rajasthan and they have two children 15-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son. Last month, Nasrullah had said Anju was ‘mentally disturbed and was badly missing’ her two children. 

On July 25, Anju married her 29-year-old friend Nasrullah, whose home is in the Upper Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They became friends on Facebook in 2019. Anju had traveled to Pakistan legally from India via the Wagah-Attari border.

Meanwhile, the incident of Anju's visit to Pakistan bears similarities to the case of Seema Ghulam Haider, a Pakistani mother of four, who entered India illegally in 2019 to live with Sachin Meena, an Indian man she had connected with while playing PUBG. However, unlike Anju, Seema had illegal entred Pakistan.

(With PTI inputs)