Who is Anju? Indian married woman weds Facebook friend in Pakistan, converts to Islam

The story of an Indian married woman who crossed the border for love has witnessed a new twist. Anju, the Indian mother of two children who travelled legally to Pakistan, on Tuesday married her Pakistani Facebook friend and converted to Islam. The news comes just a day after the man, Nasrulla, denied any reports of a love affair and said Anju would return to India on 20 August. Anju’s story is similar to that of Seema Haider – a married mother of four who crossed into India illegally to marry a man she befriended on PUBG. But what do we know about Anju? Let’s take a closer look: The 34-year-old was born in Uttar Pradesh’s Kailor village.

She was living in Rajasthan’s Alwar district with her husband and two children.

According to the Economic Times, Anju was employed as a data-entry operator at a private firm in Bhiwadi. Anju legally travelled to Upper Dir district in the tribal Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on a valid Pakistani visa to meet Nasrulla – with whom she became friends with on Facebook in 2019. According to The Times of India, Anju was granted a visa on 4 May and could have crossed the Wagah border. According to an official document of the Ministry of Interior sent to Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi, the chancery was informed that it had was decided to grant a 30-day visa to Anju, valid for Upper Dir only. According to Mint, Anju and her husband Arvind married in 2007. They have two children – a 15-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. Arvind told police Anju claimed she was on a trip to Jaipur and that the family only later found out she was across the border. “Anju’s husband said that she left home on Thursday. She has a valid passport,” Assistant Superintendent of Police Bhiwadi Sujit Shankar told PTI. Arvind earlier said he spoke to Anju and asked her to come back – and expressed optimism that she would do so. Mint quoted Arvind as saying that Anju received her passport in 2020 and that she was planning to apply for a job abroad. Arvind claimed Anju was never in contact with anyone on social media earlier. Arvind told ANI he got a call from Anju on Sunday night – when she told him she was in Lahore. “I got a voice call last night, she said that I am in Lahore. I have no idea why she went to Lahore and how she got the visa and other stuff. She informed me that she will return within two to three days,” Arvind said. “I have no idea why has she gone to Lahore and how did she manage to get the VISA and other stuff. I usually don’t touch my wife’s phone to check her messages. This is not connected to Seema Haider’s case as my wife had all the documents. I have not registered any complaint to the police. My children will decide if we will stay with my wife when she returns. This was the first time she had gone anywhere without informing me. This is cheating. I will call her parents and we will sit together to decide the steps to be taken further.” Anju marries Nasrulla, converts to Islam Anju and Nasrulla on Tuesday tied the knot in a local court of a district and sessions judge. “Nasrullah and Anju’s marriage was solemnised today and proper a Nikah was performed after she converted to Islam,” senior officer at Moharrar City Police Station in Upper Dir district Muhammad Wahab told PTI. Both appeared in the district court in Dir Bala in the presence of family members of Nasrullah, police personnel and lawyers, police said. Malakand Division Deputy Inspector General Nasir Mehmood Satti confirmed the nikkah of Anju and Nasrullah and said the Indian woman has been named Fatima after her conversion to Islam. He further stated that Anju was been shifted to home from the court under police security, _Geo News r_eported. Earlier on Monday, both Nasrullah and Anju went on a sightseeing trip amid tight security. They visited the Lawari tunnel connecting Dir Upper District with Chitral District, police officials said.

In the pictures of their visit to the picturesque tourist spots, Anju and Nasrullah were seen sitting in a lush green garden and holding hands. Anju, who was born in Kailor village in Uttar Pradesh and lived in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, has shared a short video in which she says she “feels safe here” in Pakistan, Geo News reported on Tuesday. “I want to give this message to all that I have come here legally and with planning as it was not about two days that I came here all of a sudden, and I am safe here,” she said in the video. “I request all the media persons not to harass my relatives and children,” Anju added. “Anju has come to Pakistan from New Delhi for the sake of love and is living happily here,” Upper Dir District Police Officer Mushtaq Khan was quoted as saying by Geo News. Nasrulla, a science graduate from a university in Sheringal, and the youngest of five brothers had earlier denied reports of any love affair. Nasrulla said Anju would return to India on 20 August and that he has no plans to marry her. “Anju is on a visit to Pakistan and we have no plan to marry,” Nasrulla  earlier told PTI in Pakistan over the phone. Nasrulla was speaking from Kulsho village in Upper Dir district – around 300 km from Peshawar. “She will go back to her country on 20 August after her visa expires. Anju is living in a separate room of my home with the other female members of my family,” Nasrulla added. Nasrulla had also given an affidavit to local authorities, stating there is no love angle to their friendship, and that Anju would return to India on 20 August. The affidavit also stated that she would not move out of the Upper Dir district. ‘Eccentric, mentally disturbed’ Talking to reporters on Monday in Bouna village near Tekanpur town in Gwalior district, Anju’s father Gaya Prasad Thomas said, “I came to know about it (Anju’s presence in Pakistan) just yesterday. My son informed me that his ‘didi’ (sister) has gone there. But, I don’t know about it. I have no contact with her for last nearly 20 years after she got married and moved to Bhiwadi (in Alwar district of Rajasthan).” Thomas said he is currently staying here (in MP village) as his house remains vacant. He said he keeps coming here (from Faridabad in Haryana where he is settled) from time to time. “She has not visited Tekanpur as I never invited her. She is mentally disturbed,” he claimed. Thomas said Anju had been staying with her maternal uncle in Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh since she was three years’ old and got married while residing there. “It is wrong on her part to go to Pakistan without informing anyone. She has two children and they are with their father. I have no contact with her. I have no idea when she went to Pakistan,” he said. “My son-in-law is a very simple person. She is eccentric, but my daughter will not have any affair with her friend. She is of free nature, but she will never get into all this. I can guarantee this,” Thomas said. He said Anju has studied till Class 12 and was doing a job in a company.

“I left her because of her eccentric nature,” he added.

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A local police official said they came to know about Anju’s presence in Pakistan through media reports. “We came to know about this matter through the media. We heard she has gone there (in Pakistan) on a valid visa and she has left this area years back,” Dabra’s sub-divisional officer of police Vivek Kumar Sharma said. With inputs from agencies