New Delhi: Additional Solicitor General, K.M. Nataraj has informed a Supreme Court bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna, that India has resorted to correspondence with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to confirm whether an alleged detenue, Wahida Begum, from Assam is in custody or not in Pakistan.
India has asked to be provided consular access to her if she is in custody.
The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by Begum’s mother, Azifa Khatun, seeking the release of her daughter and minor grandson, who she alleged were lodged in a Pakistan prison for several weeks, for “illegally crossing the border”.
Both have been missing from November 26 last year, according to Khatun’s complaint lodged at the Nagaon Police Station in Assam. In the FIR, Khatun has alleged that mother and son were kidnapped.
In January, the Delhi high court dismissed Khatun’s petition, saying it is beyond its jurisdiction.
According to a report on The Print, Wahida Begum and her 10-year-old son were detained by Pakistan authorities along the Chaman border on November 25 last year for trying to cross over into Pakistan from Afghanistan without valid documents. The report said that they are lodged in the Quetta district jail.
The Print quoted the Nagaon Superintendent of Police, Leena Doley, in January as saying that Begum was found to be travelling with a Pashtun man she had come in contact with while in Assam. Begum’s husband had died two years ago, leaving behind some property which she sold. With the money, she allegedly travelled to Saudi Arabia with her partner.
Khatun had reportedly received a WhatsApp call on November 30 last year from Begum, informing her about her arrest.
The Wire has contacted the Ministry of External Affairs to find out whether the Indian High Commission in Pakistan has responded to its query and its request to extend consular assistance to her. The Wire has also sought to know if her detention in a Pakistan jail is confirmed. The story will be updated as and when we get further details.