Woman from Jabalpur claims Geeta to be her daughter

Indore: A 40-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur on Tuesday claimed herself to be the mother of Geeta, the hearing and speech-impaired girl who had lived in Pakistan for over ten years after crossing the border.

"The woman, Aneesa Bi, has given an application for meeting Geeta, who she described as her daughter, Najjo who had disappeared from Gotegaon in Narsinghpur district about 13 years ago," District in-charge collector, Ashish Singh said.

"The woman also submitted a passport size photograph of her lost daughter," he said, adding that her application was forwarded to Social Justice Department. Geeta, who landed in Pakistan accidentally as a child where she stayed for over 10 years, is now lodged at an institution here for those suffering from hearing and speech impairment.

"I have given her application to the Joint Director of Social Justice department for verifying it and after that it will be forwarded to the Centre which will only decide whether to allow this woman to meet Geeta or not," Singh said.

The officer recalled receipt of four similar applications in the past staking claim for Geeta and sought permission to meet her. "These (applications) too were forwarded to Centre," he said.

Geeta was found by Pakistani Rangers in Samjhouta Express train at Lahore station when she was about eight-year-old.

She stayed with Karachi-based Edhi Foundation for over a decade before her return was secured by Indian officials.

After returning to India on October 26, Geeta has been living with the organisation for deaf and dumb and will continue so until government traces her original family. Earlier, Geeta did not recognise a couple from Uttar Pradesh who had arrived here claiming that she was their long-lost daughter.

She had also failed to recognise the people who claimed that they were her parents or family members after she arrived in New Delhi.