US woman refuses to return home after love turns sour

Police on Wednesday took US national Onija Andrew Robin in protective custody from outside an apartment block in Garden West where she had staged a sit-in.

Onija insisted on meeting Nidal Ahmed Memon who lives there and had promised to marry her on the social media.

Social media is addictive, but it makes us lonely as we prefer living in cyberspace and forsake real world relationships. This is the downside. On the upside, social media helps us stay connected with friends and family, make new friends continents apart - and even develop long distance romantic relationship.

One such intercontinental love, which developed on social media, turned sour in Karachi recently. An American woman, who was enamored by a Karachi man, has been left stranded in the metropolis after her visa expired while waiting for her love.

Onija Andrew Robin, a mother of two, divorced her husband, abandoned her family and landed in Karachi on Oct 11, 2024 after developing a whirlwind love affair with Nidal Ahmed Memon, a resident of Garden West, on social media.

Memon, however, refused to marry her saying that his parents were against it.

She spent three months in the city and her visa expired.

On Wednesday morning, she was escorted to the Karachi airport by the Airport Security Force (ASF) for her scheduled departure for the US. Initially, she appeared cheerful, greeting the on-duty staff with "As-Salaam-Alaikum" and engaging in lighthearted conversation with ASF personnel and airline staff.

However, her demeanor abruptly changed during immigration formalities. She refused to undergo the necessary procedures and later declined to board her flight in the international departure lounge. Robin insisted on meeting Memon and made several excuses to delay her departure.

Due to security regulations, authorities could not forcibly place her on the flight.

Her refusal to leave caused a 36-minute delay for Qatar Airways Flight QR 611, but eventually, the aircraft departed without her.

Later, a two-member team from the US Consulate arrived at the airport to discuss the situation with local authorities. US consular officials said that Robin could not be forced onto a flight against her will, as this could lead to legal complications.