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Journalism of Courage
All they knew was to “head south” from a hillock called Merudo Dungar, located approximately halfway between the India-Pakistan border and the first village on the Indian side, Ratanpar in Kutch. All they needed was a “full moon night”.
As per the Gujarat Police, that night was October 4. In the wee hours, Tara Ranmal Chudi, or Toto, donned a black Pathan suit, and Puja Karsan Chudi, or Meena, slipped on a light-blue sweatshirt over a salwar-kameez, and the two set out from their village Lasri in Islamkot tehsil in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Three days and 50 km later, they had made their way to Ratanpar.
A month-and-a-half later, on November 24, another couple, Popatkumar Nathu Bhil a.k.a Popat and Gauri Gulab Bhil a.k.a Gauri, were picked up by the Border Security Force (BSF). They claimed to have made a similar journey from their village Mungaria, the second-last village in Pakistan from the border, and located also in Islamkot tehsil.
Both couples are now in custody, being questioned by police and investigating agencies over their motives, particularly as they arrived so close to each other and from the same area of Pakistan, and over the truth of their stories – of having walked through the tough Thar desert and its marshy lakes, over several days.
Sources said that all four, who are Bhil tribals, maintain that they were only looking for a way to be together, which was not possible back home.
In 1979, celebrated author and poet Keki Daruwalla wrote an acclaimed short story called Love Across the Salt Desert, about a couple separated by the border who find each other across these same Thar sands that Toto and Meena, and Popat and Gauri claim to have crossed.
In their accounts to the authorities, Toto and Meena have talked of a story closer home, told down generations, of a grandfather who took the same route to Kutch decades ago.
The Walk-I
Lasri village lies just 2 km from the international border, on the Pakistan side. It is inhabited primarily by shepherds, who come up to the border almost daily to graze their cattle. There are only about 25 mud-brick and thatched-roof houses in Lasri and, as per Toto and Meena, almost everyone is related to each other.
Standing at the border fence on a clear day, police officials on this side can zoom in and spot the houses and people of Lasri, including the neighbourhood near a Lord Shiva temple from where the couple claim to have fled.
From the Lasri side, the most distinctive feature, visible to the naked eye, is Merudo Dungar.
The Bhil community frowns upon marriages within the village. Toto and Meena have said they are also related, being second cousins, and feared violence if they tried to be together. What prompted them to flee was a suicide attempt by Meena, police said.
The two left on October 4 night carrying some rotis, jaggery and a big bottle of water. They speak a mix of Sindhi and Kutchi, and understand a bit of Gujarati due to similarity in the languages, and so were confident language would not be an issue.
Police believe they crossed into India from Pillar No. 1027. The marshy lakes in the Rann of Kutch have water these days due to recent rains, and the two had to wade through one to get to Merudo Dungar. At places, the water was up to their neck. Both lost their footwear in the water, and said they walked barefoot from there on.
After nearly 24 hours, they reached Merudo Dungar on the evening of October 5. They found some berries and vegetation there which they ate, as well as puddles of fresh water, and spent the night on the hillock.
Replenished with the food, their bottle refilled, the couple set off “south” the following day. Their next challenge was the thicket of Khadir Ni Rakhal, located on the Khadir Bet, an island at the centre of a marshy lake.
It was by nightfall that they reached its northern edge. There too, they found wild berries and vegetation, and after eating some, spent the night in the foothills.
On the morning of October 7, Toto and Meena managed to cross Khadir Ni Rakhal and descended from its southern slopes, near the village of Ratanpar.
Dashrath Velji Chhanga, the sarpanch of Gadhada-Ratanpar Juth (group) gram panchayat, says the two were spotted on October 7 evening and “hid” till nightfall. “Then they saw some people sitting around a fire and approached them warily to ask for food.”
Chhanga says the villagers who were present recall them “eating a lot” and passing out on a charpoy. “The locals couldn’t call me immediately because there is no network in the area. But the next morning, they went to the area with cellphone range and called me.”
Ratanpar is a village of 260 homes, with half the population belonging to the Bhil community. The others are Ahirs, Dalits or Rabaris.
Chhanga informed the Khadir police, which detained Toto and Meena. They were later sent to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) for questioning by different agencies. Chhanga says the couple kept repeating they just wanted to get married, and that “this was better than getting killed in Pakistan”.
While Toto and Meena, who were carrying no identity proofs, claimed to be minors, police carried out tests, including dental mineralisation and bone ossification. On the basis of this, Toto’s age was determined to be more than 20 and Meena’s as between 18 and 20 years.
As a result, 41 days after their arrest, on November 18, the two were also booked under The Passport Act and The Foreigners Act.
Inspector M N Dave of Khadir Police Station told The Indian Express they will do forensic investigations such as brain mapping and polygraph tests after permission from a local court.
The Walk-II
The story of Popat, 24, and Gauri, 20, from Mungaria village – also known as Mungadio – is almost similar.
Still sketchy on the details of when they left, police officers believe they walked at least 15 km from their village to the border and then crossed over between Pillar No.s 523 and 524.
They didn’t make it far, and at 2.51 am on November 24, they were apprehended by the BSF. Officials say they told the personnel that they had come to India to “secure their love”, and their families would not allow them to be together “because they belong to the same village”.
They were handed over to the Balasar Police Station of Kutch (East) at 4 am.
All Popat and Gauri had on them were the clothes and slippers they were wearing, and a single, crumpled currency note of 100 Pakistani rupees (about Rs 32 in Indian currency).
On November 26 evening, Popat and Gauri were sent to the JIC, pending interrogation. Officials said an FIR was likely to be filed against them as well, under The Foreigners Act and The Passport Act.
Kutch (East) Superintendent of Police Sagar Bagmar told The Indian Express: “Now that the second couple have given the same reason as the first, and at least the first couple have claimed they crossed over because they wanted to get married, we have to investigate whether or not there is any other cause.”
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