KARACHI • A Pakistani mother whose son has been stuck in India for years has begged to be reunited with him after they made contact last month for the first time since 2008.
In a story mirroring that of Ms Geeta, the deaf-mute Indian woman who returned to Delhi last week after spending more than 10 years trapped in Pakistan, Mohammad Ramazan wandered into India years ago without a passport and has been trapped there ever since.
Around six weeks ago, his mother Razia Begum, who lives in Karachi, stumbled across his story and photograph on the Internet.
Now 15, Ramazan was found by the charity Childline in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state, two years ago.
"When I heard about him, well... I cannot express in words my immense affection as a mother," his mother said tearfully on Friday.
"For so many years he has been far from me. I earnestly desire that he should live with me now."
Ramazan's parents divorced in 2004, and his father took him to Bangladesh in 2008 without his mother's knowledge, she said.
Claiming he was abused by his father and stepmother, Ramazan ran away, straying into India where he wandered from town to town, sleeping and eating at shrines and railway stations before being picked up by Childline in Bhopal.
Childline director Archana Sahay said Ramazan speaks regularly with his mother since they made contact a month ago, and the pair have exchanged videos and photographs.
The Indian government has told the charity they are waiting for Pakistan to put in a formal request for his repatriation, Ms Sahay added.
"When I speak to my mother, we both cry," Ramazan said in Bhopal. "I want to go back to my home... Just like Geeta came to India, I will be sent to Pakistan."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
