Geeta says couple from Bihar not her parents

Bhopal: A couple from Bihar on Saturday claimed Geeta, the deaf and mute Indian girl brought back from Pakistan in 2015, as their daughter and met her at an institute for speech and hearing impaired in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where she has currently been lodged, requesting for their reunion.

However, Geeta failed to recognise them, in-charge of the institute J.D. Jain told this newspaper.

“The couple hailing from Alinagar village under Nalanda district in Bihar approached the institute authorities claiming that Geeta is their daughter. They claimed that their daughter had gone missing around nine years back,” Mr Jain said

The couple — Ram Swarup Choudhury and his wife Chinta Devi — claimed they saw Geeta in news channels and recognised her as their missing daughter and decided to come to the institute to see her. But, Geeta was apparently separated from her family 14 years ago. Besides, Geeta also refused to recognise the couple.

“Geeta said her mother was a literate person. But, Chinta Devi is an illiterate woman and hence cannot be her mother,” Mr Jain said.

However, the couple has been asked to approach the ministry of external affairs (MEA), the appropriate authority to take a decision on the matter, he added.

According to him, the Bihar couple directly approached the institute to stake claim for Geeta as their daughter without following the official procedure of moving the MEA first.

Several couples in the recent past have visited Geeta in the institute claiming that she is their daughter. But, Geeta did not recognise them.

Geeta was reportedly just 7 to 8 years old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by a Pakistan Rangers at the Lahore railway station.

She was adopted by Bilquis Edhi, a Pakistani philanthropist attached to Edhi Foundation, and lived with her in Karachi until October 2015, when she was brought back to India at the initiative of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj.

Ms Swaraj has even announced a reward of `1 lakh to the person who can find Geeta’s parents.