This in itself is not the first such incident; Even earlier friendships on Facebook and PUBG have become the reason for crossing borders
Lahore, January 2
A 30-year-old man belonging to Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, who illegally went to Pakistan to meet his Facebook friend and get married, is facing jail time. According to local police, the woman he went to meet says that she does not want to marry him.
Badal Babu from Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh was arrested last week on charges of illegally crossing the border in Mandi Bahauddin district of Punjab (about 240 km from Lahore). was arrested in The police have recorded the statement of 21-year-old Sana Rani, a Facebook friend of Baqaida Babu, who said that she does not want to marry him.
Nasir Shah, an officer of the Punjab Police, told News-Patiala on Thursday, “Sana Rani said in her statement to the police that she and Babu have been friends on Facebook for the last two and a half years. But she is not interested in marrying him.” He said Babu illegally crossed the border and reached Maung village in Sana Rani in Mandi Bahauddin, from where he was arrested by the police.
When the officer was asked if Babu had met Rani, the police officer said he could not confirm it. It has also not been independently confirmed whether Rani refused to marry Babu under any pressure or if she genuinely did not want to.
However, a source told News-Patiala that officials of an intelligence agency have questioned Rani and other members of her family about her relationship with Babu. After his arrest, Babu narrated his “love story” to the police. Babu was detained under Sections 13 and 14 of Pakistan’s Foreigners Act as he entered the country without any legal documents.
He was later produced before the court, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days. The next hearing of the case is on January 10.
This is not the first time that someone from India has entered Pakistan to meet a friend due to love born through social media. Earlier, an Indian woman named Anju went to Pakistan to meet her lover. She converted to Islam and married Nasrullah, a Pakistani man.
Last year, Seema Haider, a woman from Pakistan, befriended an Indian man through the game PUBG. She came to India through Nepal with her four children and later married him.
Similarly, last year, 19-year-old Pakistani girl Iqra Jiwani fell in love with 25-year-old Indian national Mulayam Singh Yadav through an online game. Later Ikra and Mulayam got married in Nepal. News-Patiala