NEW DELHI: Seema Ghulam Haider, a Pakistani woman who fell in love with Greater Noida's Sachin Meena over the online gaming platform PUBG and later crossed multiple international borders ''illegally'' to live with him, has become a vegetarian and is quickly learning to adapt herself to the Hindu traditions and customs – all for love. Ever since she came from Pakistan, Seema Haider is in awe of the Indian culture and lifestyle. Not only has she converted to Hinduism, Seema has also given up her favourite food - chicken biryani, meat and fish. The Pakistani ‘Bhabhi’ is trying hard to wholeheartedly embrace Indian culture and doing everything to assimilate herself into Indian society.
According to media reports, Seema Haider has converted to Hinduism and wears a Radhe-Radhe strap around her neck. She can be seen greeting guests with folded hands, seeking blessings by touching the feet of elders, and engaging in prayer.
Seema, 30, said that she has adopted a vegetarian lifestyle like Sachin’s family and wants to live here in India for the rest of her life.
The Pakistani woman grabbed a lot of eyeballs after she and Sachin Meena, 25, were arrested by the authorities on July 4. While Seema was charged with illegally entering India, Sachin was booked for sheltering the illegal immigrant. Seema was accused of illegally entering India without a valid visa via Nepal with her four children, all aged below seven years, to live with her lover Sachin. The two were granted bail by a court in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on Friday.
The couple's love story is as intriguing as a typical Bollywood potboiler. The two fell in love with each other while playing the online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) during the Covid-19 pandemic. They met in Nepal earlier this year in March and got married.
Narrating her story to reporters after walking out of jail, Seema said, "It was such a long and gruelling journey. I was very scared too. I first went from Karachi to Dubai, where we waited for 11 hours and couldn't sleep. We then flew to Nepal, before finally taking the road to Pokhara, where I met Sachin."
While she then went back to Pakistan, Sachin returned to India from Nepal. Upon reaching Pakistan, Seema, who claimed discord with her husband, sold a plot for Pakistani Rupees 12 lakh and arranged flight tickets and a Nepal visa for herself and her four children.
In May, she reached Nepal via Dubai and spent some time in the tourist city of Pokhara in the Himalayan nation. Then she took a bus to Delhi from Kathmandu and reached Greater Noida on May 13 with her children where Sachin had made arrangements for her to stay in a rented accommodation without disclosing her Pakistani identity.
Their cross-border love story hit a dead-end after they were arrested on July 4 and put in jail. After getting bail from the court, Seema said that she will now focus on the paperwork to make her move to India official. She also said that she does want to go back to Pakistan and cited the stringent rules for women back in her country and a possible threat to her life.
"No one has brought me to India by persuasion, I have come here of my own free will for the sake of love," Seema said. In an interview with the BBC, Seema Haider said that she would rather slit her throat or consume poison than return to her homeland. Seema also revealed that she was forced to marry her Pakistani husband Gulam, who works in Dubai, at a very young age.
In his turn, Sachin, who works at a grocery store, said that he wants to live with Seema and her children in Greater Noida only. The duo also said they would contact lawyers to find out a way to legalise her stay in India. Seema said she will accept Hinduism. Sachin told reporters that they would soon take a dip in the holy Ganga together for her to embark on their new journey.
Adding a twist to their love story, Seema's husband, Gulam Haider, who stays in Saudi Arabia, has made an appeal to the Government Of India via a video message to help him reunite with his wife. In the video, he says that he got to know that his wife and children were in Noida, through the Indian media.
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