Man crosses over illegally into Pakistan to marry Facebook friend, lands in jail

Lahore/Aligarh, Jan 03: A young Indian man crossed over illegally into Pakistan to meet a Facebook friend he wanted to marry, but instead found himself behind bars. And the woman told the local police she does not want to tie the knot.Badal Babu from the Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh was arrested on December 28 in the Mandi Bahauddin district of Pakistan’s Punjab province (some 240 kms from Lahore).Babu, who is in his 20s, crossed the border to meet the Facebook friend with whom he wanted to marry.Pakistan Police have recorded the statement of Babu’s Facebook friend Sana Rani, 21, who said she wasn’t interested in marrying him.Babu left his village after Raksha Bandhan in August.Just before Diwali, his family received a video call on WhatsApp, in which Babu reassured them that he was safe, had found a job and was using a friend’s phone because he could not afford his own. His family later learned that Babu had somehow crossed the international border near Jammu, although these details remain unconfirmed, the Indian sources said.This is not the first time someone from India has crossed into Pakistan to meet a love interest developed through social media.Previously, an Indian woman named Anju travelled to Pakistan to meet her lover. She converted to Islam and married a Pakistani man, Nasrullah.Last year, Seema Haider, a woman from Pakistan, befriended an Indian man through the PUBG game. She crossed into India via Nepal with her four children and later married him.Similarly, last year, 19-year-old Pakistani girl Iqra Jiwani developed a friendship with 25-year-old Indian national Mulayam Singh Yadav through an online game. Iqra and Mulayam later married in Nepal.