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Journalism of Courage
The Gujarat police on Thursday filed an FIR — for violation of The Foreigners Act and The Passport Act — against a couple that crossed the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan into one of the border villages in Kutch district on October 8. The couple — who had claimed to be 16 (male) and 15 years old (female) — were detained by personnel of the Khadir police station from Ratanpar. The couple had told the police they had eloped from their village as their “families would not permit them to be together”. They were prima facie treated as minors and sent to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Bhuj city, where all illegal foreign nationals are detained.
SP Sagar Bagmar of Kutch (East) Police said the reason for filing a case against them was that the medical age estimation of the couple had found them to be adults and a letter to that effect has been signed by the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO). The FIR was filed at Khadir police station on the basis of a complaint by Inspector MN Dave on behalf of the State.
The FIR stated that on October 8, Ratanpar Sarpanch Dashrath Velji Chhanga informed the police that an unknown man and woman had been seen near the bushes adjoining a lake. The police investigated and found Toto alias Tara Ranmal Chudi (Bhil) and Meena alias Puja Karsan Chudi (Bhil).
The accused told the police they lived in the same locality — near a Shiv temple in Lasari village of Islamkot in Pakistan — and that they had fallen in love but since the families were against them being together, they had eloped on October 4.
After walking through the desert for three days, they reached a village where people offered them food. It was only then that they learnt this was Ratanpar village in India.
Since they had no identity proof, the police ordered a medical examination at GK General Hospital which found that Toto’s age was more than 20 years while Meena’s age was between 18 and 20 years.
The two were interrogated by several agencies on October 15 at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Bhuj. The FIR says the police believe FSL investigations such as brain mapping and polygraph tests are required.
For illegally crossing into India from pillar number 1027, the two were booked under sections 3 and 6 of The Passport Act, as well as under section 14 of The Foreigners Act. Further investigation is underway.
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