A Karachi district and sessions court on Thursday disposed of an application filed by an Indian lawyer seeking information and custody of a deaf and dumb Indian woman – Geeta – who is stranded in Pakistan.
Geeta, now 21, was found by police 13 years ago, sitting alone and disorientated on a train that had come across the Wagah border into Lahore.
As no one claimed her, officers took Geeta to the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan’s largest and best-known charity, in whose care she has remained ever since.
Momin Malik, an Indian lawyer and social worker, moved an application under Section 552 (power to compel restoration of abducted females) of the criminal procedure code and asked the court for the custody of the woman in order to hand her over to her parents in India.
He named Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Edhi Foundation, and others as respondents in the application.
After recording Geeta’s statement and hearing arguments from both sides, district and sessions judge Ahmed Saba observed that the applicant had no privilege to seek such remedy directly, adding that the proper way to go about the matter is to use diplomatic channels since the matter involved Pakistan and India.
Both countries are signatories of agreements that include matters such as the one in question, said the court, adding that it was the specific domain of the Indian high commission to move the ministry of foreign affairs to transmit the request through Sindh’s Home Department.
The court had also earlier summoned Edhi Foundation chairman Abdul Sattar Edhi and other representatives of the charity to record their statements.
