Close on the heels of the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, the Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday handed over a deaf and mute five-year-old Pakistani girl to authorities in that country. The girl was found at the Abohar sector at around 10:30 am and was handed back at 2 pm, after a meeting between BSF officials and Pakistani Rangers.
BSF officials said that because of her condition, they were unable to communicate with the girl. The Pakistani Rangers were informed, who then sent out alerts to villages close to the border. The girl was identified as Liva Bibi (5), daughter of Allah Ditta, and she hails from Sadiq village in Kasur district, located close to the Khemkaran sector in Punjab.
The BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) R S Kataria said the girl was spotted by the border force’s ‘Kisan Guards’, who accompany farmers whose land is close to the Indo-Pak border. “She inadvertently crossed the International Boundary, entered Indian territory and reached near a border security fence,” Kataria said, adding that the border fence is usually located a little inside the International Border.
As a goodwill gesture and as part of confidence-building measures with Pakistan, the girl was returned on humanitarian grounds after her father identified her, the DIG said. BSF sources said the girl’s father is a farmer and that she had accompanied him to his farm today, from where she strayed into the Indian territory.
Source: indianexpress.com
