Indian woman arrested for visiting Pakistan to 'marry Facebook friend'

Indian police have arrested a woman who travelled to Pakistan on a fraudulent passport and visa with her minor daughter to marry a Facebook friend from Abbottabad between May 2023 and July 2024.

The 23-year-old woman, identified as Nagma Noor Maqsood Ali, also known as Sanam Khan, hails from Thane, a city outside Mumbai in Maharashtra state.

The Vartak Nagar police reported that the woman obtained forged travel documents and false Aadhaar card, Permanent Account Number (PAN), and birth certificates for her daughter from a center in Lokmanya Nagar. These fraudulent documents were then used to apply for her passport application.

According to Indian media reports, Sanam Khan travelled from Thane to Pakistan, where she stayed for one and a half months before allegedly marrying her friend in Abbottabad.

Authorities grew suspicious upon her return to India and swiftly launched an investigation.

Authorities apprehended the woman and filed charges against her and an unidentified accomplice under the Indian Passport Act and other relevant laws for passport fraud and other related offenses.

Local police are also scrutinising the woman's husband, named Maqsood Ali, and gathering necessary information from him.

Sanam Khan confessed in her statement to police that she travelled to Pakistan to meet an online friend.

Police are actively searching for the woman's accomplice who assisted in obtaining forged documents and facilitating her travel to Pakistan.

She is currently under investigation at the Vartak Nagar Police Station, with authorities trying to determine the motives behind her visit to Pakistan.