Years in jail, 7-yr-old Pak girl finally walks free

Pakistani national Jannatara was barely a year old when she first started to crawl like any other kid. Little did she know that her first footprints were within the confines of the high-security prison in border town Amritsar. Jannatara, now over 7-years old, walked out of the jail after several years this week to freedom.

Her company in jail were not friends of her age, but inmates and jail staffers among others whom she grew up with. The minor Muslim girl may not still understand what freedom would mean, but this week as she walked out of the jail, at times clinging on to her mother Rubina, the happiness was writ large on her face.

The girl was part of the 11 Pakistan nationals who were released from Indian jails by the authorities this week. They crossed over to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagha border in Punjab.

Jannatara’s doleful predicament all these years was for no fault of hers.

In fact, her mother Rubina was reportedly sentenced to two-years imprisonment after she was arrested while crossing over to Pakistan some years ago for want of travel documents. She said the two-years jail term stretched to over 5-years behind bars before she along with her daughter were finally released from jail.

Jannatara’s tender years have been ruined in jail. What lies ahead for the mother-daughter duo is perhaps even more disturbing. Rubina says, she along with her daughter and her husband came to New Delhi in 2010 for her treatment. After spending some time in the hospital, she says, her husband one day quietly walked away.

He had abandoned her and his daughter. The bag containing her travel documents, passport etc was taken by her husband who never returned. All help proved futile. Sometime later, a desperate Rubina reached Amritsar and tried to unsuccessfully cross the border into Pakistan.

The BSF manning the border terrain in Punjab arrested her, following which the court sentenced her to imprisonment. Rubina is worried there will be none to receive her back-home in Pakistan. But she is sure to give her daughter the life she deserves, despite all the odds stacked against her.