For 27-year-old Seema Haider, a mother of four, the meaning of home, family, and love all changed when she virtually met 22-year-old Sachin Meena.
Realizing she had found her soul mate, the long distance and a seemingly insurmountable border between them could not keep Haider from being with the Indian shopkeeping assistant.
Haider, a Muslim woman from Karachi, journeyed to Nepal, from where she somehow managed to sneak across the border into India and then meet Meena.
How did they meet?
Haider and Meena met the same way a lot of couples, regardless of age, meet nowadays -- chatting online.
The two found each other playing the popular mobile-based shooter, Player Unkown's Battle Grounds (PUBG), during the pandemic in 2020.
Haider says that the two struck up a friendship over chat which slowly evolved into something more. She said that they gradually started having long conversations online, taking up a good part of her day.
Realizing their feelings for each other, the two decided to meet. But the big question was how?
After three years, Haider finally took the plunge. Haider said she sold her house and other valuables to raise money for the journey.
She first travelled to Nepal with her children in March of this year, where the two met each other in person.
"It was the first time I had flown in an aircraft," she said of her determination to travel to meet Meenu.
Haider said that the first meeting convinced her to leave her 'abusive' husband in Pakistan and move to India with Meena.
The two then managed to get into India. YouTube videos helped them plan the entire journey.
In India, Haider abandoned her family and even religion, taking on Meena's name and faith.
Meena rented a separate apartment for his new family. He says his family put up some resistance at first but ultimately accepted the couple.
But soon, the police came calling after the couple failed to get married in court.
For Haider, though, she has found her true home. Legal complications and even death threats for abandoning her faith do not faze her.
"I am happy, and my children are also happy here. I do not want to go back," she told an interview.
She added that her decision to come to India was not motivated by any hatred towards Pakistan; rather, it was for the new love she had found.
She added that she misses home because the graves of her parents and brother are there while her sisters still live there.
On why she took such a step, Haider said that they only get to live one life and that she believes they must live how they will.
Haider's husband wants his family back
Haider's husband, Ghulam, used to work as a labourer and a rickshaw driver in Karachi.
He left for Saudi Arabia to earn a better living for his family.
Asked if he was abusive towards his wife and children, Ghulam denied it.
What is more, he said that the tale of how he and Haider married carries some basic ingredients in how she had now travelled across the border, love.
Ghulam said that he and Haider had eloped when their respective families would not sanction their union because they hail from different ethnic Baloch tribes.
With Haider in India saying she preferred to die than leave Meena, Ghulam said that death was a real possibility staring at the new couple when they eloped with the custom of honour killing still quite strong in the tribalistic segment of their society.
Eventually, he says a council of elders settled the matter by slapping him with a fine of Rs1 million.
In a video, he appealed to the Indian government to reunite him with his children.
https://twitter.com/thefirstindia/status/1677960124776718342
However, Haider termed her marriage with Ghulam one of the circumstances.
"I was just 17-years-old when I got married, and I was as thin as a rake then. Yes, I liked someone from their home, but we got married in a very simple ceremony," she said.
Haider, meanwhile, says she would rather divorce Ghulam than go back.
https://twitter.com/kamaalrkhan/status/1678351368753651712
Domestic threat
Meanwhile at home, a video has surfaced where some men sitting in a field with a package wrapped in cloth threaten to attack Hindu temples and Sikh Gurdwara's in Pakistan unless India returns Seema Haider to Pakistan.
In the video, two men can be seen and largely appears to have been made in jest. Only one of the two men speak, and do so in Sindhi. The nature of the wrapped package, which is claimed to be a bomb weighing five kilogrammes, is not disclosed.
Realizing she had found her soul mate, the long distance and a seemingly insurmountable border between them could not keep Haider from being with the Indian shopkeeping assistant.
Haider, a Muslim woman from Karachi, journeyed to Nepal, from where she somehow managed to sneak across the border into India and then meet Meena.
How did they meet?
Haider and Meena met the same way a lot of couples, regardless of age, meet nowadays -- chatting online.
The two found each other playing the popular mobile-based shooter, Player Unkown's Battle Grounds (PUBG), during the pandemic in 2020.
Haider says that the two struck up a friendship over chat which slowly evolved into something more. She said that they gradually started having long conversations online, taking up a good part of her day.
Realizing their feelings for each other, the two decided to meet. But the big question was how?
After three years, Haider finally took the plunge. Haider said she sold her house and other valuables to raise money for the journey.
She first travelled to Nepal with her children in March of this year, where the two met each other in person.
"It was the first time I had flown in an aircraft," she said of her determination to travel to meet Meenu.
Haider said that the first meeting convinced her to leave her 'abusive' husband in Pakistan and move to India with Meena.
The two then managed to get into India. YouTube videos helped them plan the entire journey.
In India, Haider abandoned her family and even religion, taking on Meena's name and faith.
Meena rented a separate apartment for his new family. He says his family put up some resistance at first but ultimately accepted the couple.
But soon, the police came calling after the couple failed to get married in court.
For Haider, though, she has found her true home. Legal complications and even death threats for abandoning her faith do not faze her.
"I am happy, and my children are also happy here. I do not want to go back," she told an interview.
She added that her decision to come to India was not motivated by any hatred towards Pakistan; rather, it was for the new love she had found.
She added that she misses home because the graves of her parents and brother are there while her sisters still live there.
On why she took such a step, Haider said that they only get to live one life and that she believes they must live how they will.
Haider's husband wants his family back
Haider's husband, Ghulam, used to work as a labourer and a rickshaw driver in Karachi.
He left for Saudi Arabia to earn a better living for his family.
Asked if he was abusive towards his wife and children, Ghulam denied it.
What is more, he said that the tale of how he and Haider married carries some basic ingredients in how she had now travelled across the border, love.
Ghulam said that he and Haider had eloped when their respective families would not sanction their union because they hail from different ethnic Baloch tribes.
With Haider in India saying she preferred to die than leave Meena, Ghulam said that death was a real possibility staring at the new couple when they eloped with the custom of honour killing still quite strong in the tribalistic segment of their society.
Eventually, he says a council of elders settled the matter by slapping him with a fine of Rs1 million.
In a video, he appealed to the Indian government to reunite him with his children.
https://twitter.com/thefirstindia/status/1677960124776718342
However, Haider termed her marriage with Ghulam one of the circumstances.
"I was just 17-years-old when I got married, and I was as thin as a rake then. Yes, I liked someone from their home, but we got married in a very simple ceremony," she said.
Haider, meanwhile, says she would rather divorce Ghulam than go back.
https://twitter.com/kamaalrkhan/status/1678351368753651712
Domestic threat
Meanwhile at home, a video has surfaced where some men sitting in a field with a package wrapped in cloth threaten to attack Hindu temples and Sikh Gurdwara's in Pakistan unless India returns Seema Haider to Pakistan.
In the video, two men can be seen and largely appears to have been made in jest. Only one of the two men speak, and do so in Sindhi. The nature of the wrapped package, which is claimed to be a bomb weighing five kilogrammes, is not disclosed.