“I’d rather die than return”, says a Pakistani girl who crossed border. A couple from archrivals India and Pakistan; who met in a gaming chatroom before sneaking across borders together say their love overcame national rivalries and religious backlash.
During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Sachin Meena, a 22-year-old unmarried Indian shopkeeping assistant, and Hindu, met Seema Haider, a 27-year-old married Pakistani mother of four and Muslim, while playing the online shooting game PUBG.
“We became friends and our friendship turned to love and our chats became longer — every morning and night — before we finally decided to meet,” said Seema, speaking to AFP from the cramped courtyard of Sachin’s two-room family home, where she now lives.
Seema, who left Pakistan and her husband with her four children by smuggling herself into India via Nepal in May — for which the couple was arrested and then bailed out last week — said she has since married Sachin and taken his name.
“I converted to Hinduism,” she said, sitting next to Sachin in the village of Rabupura, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) from New Delhi.
“I’d rather die than return or leave Sachin”, says a Pakistani girl who crossed border.
While the lovers have found each other, their respective nations’ histories are bitter.
Since their separation from the subcontinent in 1947, India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have fought three wars.
In 2019, each expelled the other’s high commissioner, and bilateral diplomatic, cultural, commercial, and sporting ties are extremely limited.
Seema’s long-term stay in India, according to Indian police, is impossible.
“I request the Indian government to grant me citizenship”, Seema pleaded, a red headscarf covering her hair and her four young children playing nearby.
In some Islamic interpretations, apostasy is punishable by death. Seema stated that the couple had already received online threats and that they would “live and die together.”
When Seema declared her “undying love” for Sachin and promised to only return to Pakistan “as a dead woman” during a heated Indian TV debate this week, the audience applauded.
Seema stated that Sachin’s gaming abilities initially drew her in.
Three years later, in March of this year, the couple finally met in person in Nepal.
After their first meeting, she knew she wanted to leave her “abusive” Pakistani husband, which he denies.
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The couple said it took months of meticulous planning with help from YouTube videos on how to enter India via Nepal. In May, she succeeded.
“It was very difficult to travel from Pakistan to India,” she said. “I believe that with God’s love, we were destined to meet”.
Sachin’s family only learned of her existence when he rented a nearby apartment with her.
“There was some resistance, but my father and everyone accepted us. They are happy for us,” said Sachin. “I will do everything for them.”
Indian police found out after they tried to get married at a local court.
Ghulam Haider, Seema’s estranged husband, quit his job as a laborer and rickshaw driver in Saudi Arabia to provide for his family.
Haider, who claimed he had never heard of PUBG, wishes to reclaim his family.
“I humbly request that Indian and Pakistani authorities return my wife and children to me,” Ghulam Haider said by phone from Saudi Arabia.
According to Haider, the couple, who are from different Baloch tribes, have their own defiant love story.
They ran away to marry despite their families’ prohibitions, breaking a taboo in Pakistan that can sometimes lead to so-called honor killings.
“Later, a jirga (council of elders) was summoned to settle the matter and a fine of one million rupees (around $3,640) was slapped on me,” he said.
“I am far from my home, from my family, and it is very agonizing for me because we married out of love.”
‘She is an adult’
In India, the couple have received a popular welcome. Crowds from nearby villages have been visiting them since their arrest grabbed national headlines.
“We took selfies,” said Rakesh Chand, 37, who drove over an hour to offer his congratulations, one of the dozens lining up to greet them.
“Sachin is very happy, even his family has accepted them, so the government must ensure that she isn’t forced to leave.”
However, the news has not been welcomed on the streets near her old home in Pakistan, Dhani Bakhsh village in eastern Karachi.
People are aware of Seema’s story, but few are willing to discuss it openly – though they gossip in small groups on street corners.
“Let’s forget about her because she’s gone and she’s an adult,” Haider’s cousin Zafarullah Bugti said, blaming PUBG for making Seema a “psycho.”
Seema is unapologetic, calling Sachin the “love of her life” and vowing to devote herself to her family.
“My children will get all the love, care, and attention here,” she said.
