Deaf & Mute Woman Who Returned From Pak Begins Search for Groom

Geeta returned to India from Pakistan in 2015 after accidentally landing up there as a child.

Geeta (centre) returned to India from Pakistan in 2015 after accidentally landing in the latter country as a child.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Vikas Swarup)

Four suitors, including a government employee and a pizza shop worker, met Geeta, a hearing and speech-impaired woman who returned from Pakistan after accidentally landing in that country as a child, in Indore on Thursday, 7 June.

A campaign to find a suitable match for Geeta is being conducted under Ministry of External Affairs and a Facebook advert had been put out in this regard.

A total of 50 people from various parts of the country had expressed their desire to tie the knot with Geeta. However, only 14 proposals were short-listed after Geeta's consent and six of them were invited to meet her in Indore on Thursday.

The campaign to find a suitable match for Geeta was being run under the guidance of the Ministry of External Affairs. Six persons from different parts of the country were invited to Indore to meet her on Thursday. Of them, four men turned up.

Madhya Pradesh Social Justice and Empowerment Department joint director BC Jain to PTI

He said Geeta has not yet taken a final call on the prospective groom. She was also meeting eight men (out of the 14 suitors) on Friday.

However, Geeta has put certain pre-conditions.

Gyanendra Purohit, a sign language expert associated with the campaign to find a life partner for Geeta, said:

Through the sign language, Geeta has said that if she likes a non-deaf and mute man, he will have to learn sign language so that both of them can communicate after their marriage. In addition, her future husband will have to help her in finding her parents.

When asked about the profile of four men who met Geeta on Thursday, sources said they included a moulding machine operator, an Excise Department employee, and a Pizza shop worker.

Among them, one Sachin Pal (27), an Indore-based moulding machine operator who is partially hearing impaired, refused to accept the conditions laid by Geeta.

Other suitors include Arun Namdev (26), an employee of Excise Department in Tikamgarh district, and Ritesh Patel (26) who works in a Pizza shop in Ahmedabad. Both are deaf-and-mute like Geeta.

Geeta also met one Rajkumar Swarnakar (29), a resident of Bhopal, who is physically challenged.

Purohit said he had posted a matrimonial advertisement on Facebook for Geeta on 10 April after meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Geeta is currently staying in the premises run by "Mook Badhir Sangathan", an NGO, under the supervision of Social Justice Department.

In the last two-and-a-half years, more than ten families from different parts of the country have claimed that Geeta was their missing daughter. But none of these claims could be verified in the government’s investigations.

Geeta was found by Pakistani Rangers in Samjhauta Express at Lahore Railway Station when she was around eight.

She was brought back to India on 26 October 2015 on the intervention of Swaraj.