Pakistani woman held in Greater Noida sent to 14-day judicial custody, her 4 kids to stay with her: Police

PTI, Jul 4, 2023, 7:44 PM IST

Representative Image

Noida: The Pakistani woman who has been arrested for illegally entering India and staying in Greater Noida without valid documents was on Tuesday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court, which also ordered that her four children will stay with the mother in the jail, police said.

The woman’s Indian partner, who lives in Greater Noida and sheltered her, and his father, who knew of the whole episode, have also been remanded in custody, they said.

Central agencies, including the Bureau of Immigration, and the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad have been informed about the Pakistani woman who was arrested for illegally staying in Greater Noida after entering India in May, police said.

A senior officer said the woman arrived in India on May 13 with her four children without valid documents to stay with a Greater Noida man, whom she had befriended through online game PUBG in 2019. Over the course of the time, the duo played online games together and chatted over text and phone calls on Whatsapp and Instagram.

”The Pakistani woman, identified as Seema Ghulam Haider, has been arrested. The Greater Noida man, Sachin Meena, who sheltered her, and his father Netrapal Meena, who knew about the couple, have also been arrested,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Saad Miya Khan told reporters.

”The Pakistani woman’s four children — aged seven and below — will be produced in a competent court here and further action would be taken on the court’s direction,” Khan said.

An FIR in the case has been lodged at the local Rabupura police station under provisions of the Foreigners Act, the Passport (Entry into India) Act and Indian Penal Code sections 120B (party to criminal conspiracy) and 34 (act done by several people with common intention), he said.

”Central agencies, including the Bureau of Immigration, and the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad have been informed about the case,” the DCP said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Seema, Sachin and his father Netrapal were produced in a local court which sent them to 14-day judicial custody, Rabupura police station in-charge Sudhir Kumar told PTI.

”The children – three girls and a boy – were also produced before a competent court which ordered that the children can stay with their mother, who will be lodged at the Luksar jail in Greater Noida,” the policeman said.

Seema left Pakistan in May for Nepal where she arrived on a tourist visa with her children. She stayed there in Pokhara city and took a bus to Delhi via Kathmandu after which she reached Greater Noida.

Seema Haider, around 30 years old, had come to meet Meena, around 25 years old, and the duo had planned to stay together in Greater Noida. She was staying separately in a rented accommodation but soon got whiff about the news of her Pakistani origin spreading out. The duo recently contacted a lawyer to find out provisions to get married but the information reached the police, an official said.

The duo got to know of the police tracing them and left Greater Noida along with the children but were traced in Ballabhgarh, Haryana, while fleeing, the official added.

Meena, who runs a provision store, lives in Ambedkar Nagar area of Rabupura in Greater Noida. Seema Haider hails from the Sindh province of Pakistan and married Ghulam Haider in 2014. They lived together in Karachi till 2019 when Ghulam moved to Saudi Arabia for work. This was her second marriage and all the four children who came with her are from the first husband, police said.

The couple did not have a happy marriage and in 2019, Seema Haider got in touch with Meena while playing PUBG and eventually got close to the extent that she decided to come to India with her children, police added.

Police said they have recovered Seema’s marriage registration certificate, a Pakistani citizenship identity card, a sim card and a mobile phone of that country from her. Five passports have also been seized including one belonging to Sachin, they added.

Police have also found two video cassettes of Seema’s marriage.

Police said Sachin had met Seema once in Kathmandu, Nepal in March this year and stayed together for seven days. During this meeting, they decided on the future course of action, which included getting married and staying in India.