Pak woman who crossed over to be with Indian lover set to return after five yrs in jail

Sameera Abdul Rehman, 28, who became a mother in prison five months after her arrest in May 2017 in Bengaluru, has been waiting for papers to return to Pakistan since September 2021, when she was discharged in cases of illegal immigration and forgery registered against her.

Sameera, her now estranged husband Mohammed Shihab — a native of Kerala whom she met and fell in love with while in Doha, Qatar — and a Pakistani couple, Kasiff Shamsuddin and Kiran Ghulam Ali, were arrested by the Bengaluru Crime Branch police in May 2017 following an anonymous tip-off that Shihab was trying to arrange fake Indian citizenship documents, including an Aadhaar card, for Sameera alias Najma and the Pakistani couple.

While the Bengaluru police deported Kasiff and his wife Kiran, both aged 30, to Pakistan in 2018 after the couple admitted before a court that they arrived in India through an illegal route (along with Sameera) after their families in Pakistan objected to their relationship, Sameera remained in India following questions surrounding the citizenship of the child born to her and Shihab, police sources said.

“The case is over. Two courts had convicted her. She completed her sentence in July 2021 and has paid her fine of Rs 1 lakh. She is awaiting deportation and the Pakistan High Commission has informed us that they have verified her nationality and are waiting for the MEA to provide clearance so that she can be repatriated,” said Sameera’s advocate in Bengaluru, Sahana B P, adding that she was transferred to a detention centre pending the deportation.

On May 24, 2017, the Bengaluru police registered a case against Sameera, Shihab, and the Pakistani couple under the Foreigners Acts of 1939 and 1946, and the Passport Act of 1967, besides IPC sections of forgery. A second case was registered by the police on a complaint by UIDAI authorities over the attempt to obtain an Aadhaar card with fake documents.

A government doctor at a state facility also stands accused by the UIDAI of providing documents to enable illegal immigrants to obtain Aadhaar cards in Bengaluru. The case also came under scrutiny of multiple security agencies over doubts of the motive for the immigrants to enter India without valid documentation.

The trial in the cases against Shihab, government officials, and the others is still underway and only the Pakistan nationals have been released/deported.

According to statements recorded in the case by the Bengaluru Police, Sameera’s family was opposed to her relationship and forcibly took her away from Qatar to Pakistan, from where she left for India to unite with Shihab.

According to Sahana, after the birth of her child in prison in September 2017, they considered seeking residentship in India for Sameera on humanitarian grounds, but dropped the idea after Shihab and Sameera separated.

“Shihab and her are not in touch anymore,” Sameera’s advocate Sahana said.

“Section 3 of the Citizenship Act says that if one is an illegal immigrant and the other is an Indian national, then the child does not get the Indian citizenship,” Sahana said.

Sameera’s daughter was born in prison with a congenital heart defect. It was the child’s medical condition that enabled Sameera to obtain bail in 2020. “The child’s heart condition has resolved, but she also had a hernia operation in prison,” said Sahana.

Considering the fact that Sameera was a young mother, the trial in her case was expedited by the courts with hearings held on a regular basis.

Even after Sameera was discharged, her deportation continued to be delayed. Eventually, a media story on Sameera’s plight by BBC Urdu caught the attention of officials in Pakistan, paving the way for her repatriation.

“We are really in the last leg. She has faced a lot already,” said advocate Sahana, hoping Sameera has a smooth return to Pakistan.