Police Say A Pakistani Adolescent Couple Perishes in the Thar Desert While Attempting to Enter India..
Jaisalmer: A Pakistani Hindu couple who allegedly tried to enter India illegally died due to thirst and heat in the Thar Desert of Jaisalmer, police said. The deceased have been identified as Ravi Kumar (17) and Shanti Bai (15), residents of Mirpur Mathelo village in Ghotki district of Pakistan’s Sindh province.
According to local officials, the duo had married some months ago, and both decided to come to India for a better future despite the warnings and refusal of their families. On June 21, both left home on a bike. They had a water jerrycan, which was found empty at the spot. Police believe that both had lost their way in the desert and died due to lack of water and extreme heat.
‘Took a risk after failing to get a visa’
District Coordinator of the Hindu Pakistani Displaced Union and Border People’s Organisation, Dilip Singh Sodha, said that Ravi and Shanti had applied for a visa to come to India as part of a religious pilgrimage, but their application was rejected due to tension between India and Pakistan. “They wanted to live in India, but after their request was rejected, both of them took the dangerous decision of crossing the international border without permission,” said Sodha, who circulated the details of the ID cards on social media.
“Once the picture of the young couple was shared on social media, their distant relatives in India identified Ravi and Shanti Bai. Refugee cards of both have also been received,” he added.
Security agencies are investigating the incident from all possible angles. “The investigation is being done jointly by several agencies, and all legal formalities, including postmortem, are being completed,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Jaisalmer, Sudhir Chaudhary, said.
Due to the advanced state of decomposition, the bodies couldn’t be sent to Pakistan, and the last rites were performed at the Bhil crematorium in the Ramgarh area with the consent of the Border People’s Organisation, local administration and relatives settled in Jaisalmer.
Sodha, senior social worker Nathuram Bhil and many local people were present at the funeral.
MP called it a serious and worrying matter.
Regional MP Ummedram Beniwal expressed deep concern over the incident, saying the matter is very serious and raises many questions about the security system of the country.
“Security forces claim that not even a bird can cross the border. But someone crossing the border is a matter of concern. The level of alertness that the security agencies were showing during Operation Sindoor and after that, the same alertness is expected even today,” he said.
Beniwal MP demanded that a thorough investigation be conducted into this incident. “If there is any lapse in border security, action should be taken against the responsible officers,” he said.
The MP alleged that the government was not serious about this highly sensitive border area of strategic importance, and a lapse in security and negligence of any kind can prove fatal for the national interest.
