Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj will be playing matchmaker for Geeta, the differently-abled girl who was sent to India in 2015 after having stayed in Pakistan for almost 15 years, according to Hindustan Times.
Geeta had arrived Pakistan when she was a child and had been under the care of the Edhi Foundation. Since her return to India, Indian government’s efforts to reunite her with her family have proved futile. Several families had come to claim Geeta as their own, but she did not recognise any of them.
“Sushma Swaraj, in October 2017, had announced plans for Geeta’s marriage. On April 8, civil society members took a prospective speech- and hearing impaired groom with them to meet Sushma Swaraj and Geeta, at Swaraj’s residence in Delhi,” an official at Swaraj’s office stated.
“Geeta rejected the proposal. Swaraj then asked them to widen their search and bring more prospective grooms to choose from, assuring her total support for the cause,” he added.
“In a recent meeting with civil society members who helped Geeta to come back to India, Swaraj had invited applications through Facebook and also announced Geeta’s biodata in the Parichay Sammelan (introductory meeting) for speech- and hearing-impaired people,” said Gyanendra Purohit, convener of non-governmental organisation Anand Service Society, who is coordinating the match-making efforts.
So far they have received 25 biodatas of potential grooms, and they include an army officer, an astrologer, novelist, engineers and farmers, among others.
“We have shortlisted 15 suitable matches by asking them in detail why they were interested in marrying Geeta. These matches are going to be screened by Swaraj’s PA (personal assistant) and then Geeta will see whether she likes the chosen guy or not and then Swaraj will have the final say,” said Purohit.
The groom is being promised a house and a government job, according to Purohit, who added, “Some of the prospective grooms were rejected when they said they wanted to marry Geeta in the hope of getting a government job.”
