Geeta with India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. SCREEN GRAB
The story of Geeta, the deaf and mute Indian girl who wandered into Pakistan over one and a half decade ago, still awaits a happy ending.
India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, who has been on a crusade to ensure Geeta's union with her family, on Wednesday posted Geeta's diary notes on Twitter and asked people for help in identifying the dialect to find out the area where she is from.
Please see these pages and tell us the area where this dialect is spoken and what do these pages convey. This will help us locate her home and unite her with her family. https://t.co/YvOM7sQ3l2
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) December 20, 2017
"Geeta was rescued from Pakistan. She cannot speak or hear. We have obtained some pages from Pakistan written by her in a local dialect and in Devanagari script," the minister tweeted.
This is the second time in a couple of months that Swaraj has taken to social media to seek help for Geeta.
In October, she announced a reward for INR100,000 (approximately $1,500) for assistance in reuniting Geeta with her family.
My earnest appeal :
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) December 20, 2017
Please Retweet.https://t.co/UgnGEI1uAi …
Geeta, who is believed to be in her mid-twenties, had accidentally crossed the India-Pakistan border, one of the most militarised zones in the world, around 15 years ago.
Around 10 years old at that time, Geeta was sitting in the Samjhauta Express at the Lahore train station when she was found by Pakistan Rangers.
She was handed over to the Edhi Foundation in 2003, after several attempts to place her in shelter homes failed as she would keep running away.
At the Edhi Foundation in Karachi, its co-founder Bilquis Edhi took Geeta under her wing.
Her story story captivated both Pakistanis and Indians after a Bollywood film with a similar plot was released in 2015.
In the movie, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, actor Salman Khan played an Indian man who travels to Pakistan to reunite a deaf-mute girl with her family.
She was returned to India in 2015 after claims by a family in India that Geeta was their missing daughter. Bilquis and her family accompanied the girl to India to hand her over to the Indian government on their commitment to ensure her reunion with her family.
Geeta did not recognise the family as hers and DNA tests proved that they were not related.
She continues to live in government-run shelter in India.
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