The father of a married Indian woman, Anju (34), who travelled to a remote village in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to meet her Facebook friend, Nasrulla (29), has said that she is "mentally disturbed and eccentric." However, he firmly denied any involvement in an affair.
He expressed concern that it was inappropriate for her to travel to Pakistan without informing anyone about her plans. Anju, who was born in Kailor village in Uttar Pradesh and resided in Alwar district of Rajasthan, had befriended Nasrulla, a Pakistani national, on Facebook in 2019.
Anju has travelled to Upper Dir district in the tribal Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on a valid Pakistani visa to meet Nasrulla.
Talking to reporters on Monday (24) 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.
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.
The woman will return to India on August 20 when her visa expires, her Pakistani friend Nasrulla said earlier on Monday, dismissing reports of any love affair between them.
Nasrulla said he has no plan of marrying Anju.
"Anju is on a visit to Pakistan and we have no plan to marry," Nasrulla told PTI in Pakistan over the phone from village Kulsho in Upper Dir district, some 300 km from Peshawar.
"She will go back to her country on August 20 after her visa expires. Anju is living in a separate room of my home with the other female members of my family," he said.
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 been decided to grant a 30-day visa to Anju, valid for Upper Dir only.
Nasrulla, a science graduate, is the youngest among five brothers. He has given an affidavit to local authorities, stating there is no love angle to their friendship, and Anju will return to India on August 20.
The affidavit also states she will not move out of the Upper Dir district. "She will definitely go back on August 20 as per her visa documents," said Upper Dir District Police Officer Mushtaq Khan.
(PTI)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)