NEW DELHI — A deaf and mute Indian woman who accidentally strayed
into Pakistan as a child 12 years ago arrived in New Delhi on Monday
hoping to be reunited with her family, beaming as she was greeted at the
airport by scores of well-wishers.
Wearing a red tunic, her head
loosely covered with a matching stole, Geeta, now 23, waved to the
schoolchildren and others who had gathered to see her after her arrival.
She was carrying a big bouquet of flowers given to her by officials
from India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Geeta, who goes by one
name, was accompanied on the Pakistan International Airlines flight from
Karachi by officials from the Edhi Foundation, the Pakistani charity
that has cared for her since she was handed over by authorities after
she accidentally crossed into the country in 2003.
"About two
weeks ago, Geeta identified her family after seeing some pictures
provided to us by Indian diplomats," the charity's spokesman, Faisal
Edhi, told The Associated Press in Islamabad. "She was very happy over
it."
In addition to the family in the pictures that Geeta identified,
Indian media have reported that another man is claiming to be Geeta's
father.
In New Delhi, Geeta will undergo two sets of DNA tests to
ensure that she is reunited with her own parents, said Indian External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The government has also identified
two welfare homes for people with disabilities, and Geeta could be sent
to one of them if the DNA tests are not conclusive, Swaraj said.