Cross-border families caught in a limbo after Pahalgam terror attack

After a pregnant Pakistani woman married in India appealed to President to allow her to stay back, another woman born in India and married in Pakistan refused to leave without her two children

- Deepak Lavania

MEERUT: An India-born woman who became a citizen of Pakistan after marrying a Pakistani man, and a Pakistani woman married to an Indian man have refused to return to Pakistan following a central government directive issued after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which led to a review of visas granted to Pakistani nationals.

In Meerut's Sardhana, a woman named Sana, who became a Pakistani citizen after marrying a Pakistan national, came to India on a 40-day visa for a family wedding but declined to send her children back to Pakistan without her.

In a separate case, a pregnant woman in Bulandshahr on a tourist visa has appealed to the Prime Minister for permission to stay back, calling herself "India's daughter-in-law" and citing humanitarian grounds. Police confirmed that the two women have been allowed to stay back till further orders.