GUWAHATI: Love knows no barriers.
An Assam woman had crossed over into Bangladesh and married her Bangladeshi boyfriend “digitally” but the police soon got a whiff of it and arrested her for trespass.
Anjuma Begum (name changed) of Taparpathar village in Goroimari area of Kamrup district had developed a relationship with Abdus Sattar who hails from a village in Sunamganj, Bangladesh.
Five years ago, Sattar (27) had fled to Kamrup as the Bangladesh Police were searching for him in connection with a criminal case. He returned to Bangladesh after spending a few years in Assam. In due course, he left for Bahrain to eke out a living but his love affair with Anjuma (20) continued through the social media.
According to locals in Kamrup, Anjuma’s parents were aware of her relationship with the Bangladeshi man but they disapproved of it. As they were planning to marry her off to a local against her wishes, she decided to flee to Bangladesh and marry Sattar.
Despite the risk of being caught, she braved a journey of hundreds of kilometers and eventually, reached Sattar’s residence on Tuesday. She was, apparently, helped by a relative of her lover who had come all the way to the international border to help her cross over.
Later, the marriage was solemnized through a WhatsApp video call made to Sattar. However, the euphoria lasted barely a day as the police arrested her for entering the country without carrying travel documents. She is now in the custody of Bangladeshi authorities.
The parents of Anjuma were not available for comments. The locals said they had no idea where in Assam Sattar had stayed and worked or where the couple first met.
“Her parents moved to Changsari (in Kamrup) recently. I tried to reach him but his phone was switched off,” a local said.
The incident is a testimony to Assam’s burning problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh. The man had entered Assam when the National Register of Citizens (NRC), 1951 was being updated.