Peshawar: A 34-year-old Indian woman, who traveled to Pakistan and married her Facebook friend in the northwestern Upper Dir district in July, returned to India this week to bring her two children from India to Pakistan, her Pakistani husband said on Friday.
The woman, Anju, converted to Islam and changed her name to Fatima before getting married to Nasrullah, her Pakistani Facebook friend, on July 25. The couple made headlines in both countries at the time of their wedding.
However, Fatima this week returned to her home country via the Wagah border crossing between Pakistan and India, with her husband saying she would return to Pakistan within a few months.
“Anju has gone to India to bring her two children to Pakistan and to face a divorce case filed by her first husband,” Nasrullah told Arab News, adding the case could not be decided in her absence.
Fatima has a 15-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son who live in India, according her husband.
The woman traveled to Pakistan on a one-month visa that expired in August, but she continued to live with her husband in Pakistan. The 34-year-old decided to return to India after multiple visa rejections by Pakistani authorities and to “resolve her family issues.”
Nasrullah said he wanted the Pakistani and Indian governments to help his wife bring her children to Pakistan.
Late last month, the couple was seen visiting historic places in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore in videos shared on social media.
“It is my last day in Pakistan and my journey since I came here has been very good,” Fatima said in one of the videos. “Every day is spent well here.”
She praised the Pakistani people for the respect they gave her and their hospitality.
Following their court marriage in July, the couple had received widespread love and respect from Pakistanis, with multiple Pakistani commercial enterprises announcing generous gifts for them.
