MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistani author­i­ties repatriated on Monday a 12-year-old girl belonging to India-held Kashmir, three days after she strayed into Azad Jammu and Kashmir from across Line of Control.

Nasreen Bibi, a resident of Shoran village of Uri area in India-held Kashmir, had inadvertently crossed the LoC and reached Darra Haji Pir sector of AJK’s Haveli district on Dec 26.

She was spotted by Pakistani troops.

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On Monday, the girl was handed over to Indian authorities at the Chakothi-Uri crossing point, 60km off here, after officials from the two sides held a flag meeting at the Kaman Bridge, which marks the divide between the disputed Himalayan region.

“I am so happy that I am reuniting with my family,” she said while responding to questions by reporters taken there to cover the event.

She was all praise for the cordiality of people and officials in AJK. “Everyone was so kind...They took care of me like their own daughters. They gave me new clothes as well,” she said.

Pakistani officials presented her gifts.

On the India-held side, a physician examined Nasreen Bibi before she was allowed to leave with her mother Saeeda Bibi, who had been waiting for her at the LoC.

Earlier on Nov 19, Pakistani officials had repatriated a 13-year-old boy at a similar meeting at the Chakothi-Uri crossing point.

Manzar Hussain, an eight-grade student from Jhanagar village in India-held Kashmir, had mistakenly crossed the LoC into the southern Kotli district on Nov 14.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2014