Sumaira: Pakistan issues citizenship certificate to woman jailed in India

ISLAMABAD: The plight of a Pakistani woman Sumaira, who is languishing in Bangalore detention centre in India, has come to an end as she was issued a citizenship certificate by the Ministry of Interior, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The interior ministry has issued a citizenship certificate to a Pakistani woman, Sumaira, who is languishing in a Bangalore detention centre in India’s Karnataka state.

After the issuance of a citizenship certificate, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi will issue the travel documents along with her citizenship certificate in India.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said in a statement that Sumaira was issued a citizenship certification after verification of her family records. The interior ministry forwarded the circular of Sumaira’s citizenship certificate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rasheed said that Sumaira and her four-year-old daughter could travel back to Pakistan after getting the necessary travel documents.

Sumaira: the case background

Sumaira, a Pakistani-origin woman along with her daughter had been sent to Banglaore detention after she completed her jail term for travelling to India without a visa after marrying an Indian Muslim boy.

Sumaira was born to a Qatar-based Pakistani family, who married an Indian Muslim boy for love defying her family in 2016 and travelled with him to India without possessing a visa that led to her arrest.

She had been arrested in 2017 and sentenced to three years in prison, according to BBC.

After spending two months in jail, she gave birth to a baby girl while her husband abandoned her without giving any explanation during her captivity.

Sumaira was later sent to the Bangalore detention centre with her ailing daughter following her release from the prison as she was not possessing the documentary evidence to prove herself a Pakistani citizen.

Later, Sumaira’s issue was raised by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui in the Senate and called for a solution to end the miseries of the Pakistani woman.