Cross-border love story ends in arrest of Assam woman in Bangladesh

All love stories do not have a happy ending. Mousumi Das of Karimganj in southern Assam’s Barak Valley was arrested by police in Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Tuesday evening, for entering the country without valid travel documents. She had met Numan Badshad of Dhaka at a trade fair in Assam and fell in love. She was produced before a court on Wednesday.

A final year student of Rabindrasadan College in Karimganj, Ms. Das had met Numan Badshad of Dhaka at a trade expo in her hometown and fell in love with him.

Karimganj, about 315 km south of Guwahati, borders Bangladesh.

Her parents lodged a kidnapping case with the police after she went missing on March 12. A video uploaded on social media a fortnight later revealed she was in Bangladesh. Clad in a burqa, she claimed she had not been kidnapped.

She also said she had eloped with Mr. Badshah and converted to Islam to marry him.

The Karimganj police said the duo had entered Bangaldesh via Tripura.

“Badshah, an employee of a Bangaldeshi company that deals in sarees, came to India on a business visa. He met the woman in Karimganj during an expo a few weeks ago,” Gaurav Upadhyay, Karimganj Superintendent of Police, said.

Mr. Upadhyay said Ms Das could be handed a prison term for illegal entry into Bangladesh, or the Indian high commission in Dhaka may seek consular access to her. In the latter case, the high commission may record her statement and get her nationality verified.

“Consular access could facilitate her repatriation. This case is now beyond the control of police, it is between two countries now,” the police officer said.