THANE: In a daring attempt to escape an allegedly abusive marriage and start anew, a 23-year-old woman from Thane has been charged with forging documents to obtain a passport and Pakistani visa under a fake identity. The woman, identified as Sara* (name changed to protect her identity), left India with her two young daughters to marry her Instagram boyfriend in Pakistan.
According to a senior police official, the woman, originally from Uttar Pradesh, relocated to Thane last year to live with her mother, seeking refuge from her abusive husband. During her time in Thane, she befriended a man from Pakistan on Instagram and eventually fell in love with him. The couple decided to marry and live together in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where the man resided and worked.
Fearing that her marital status would hinder her new relationship and that her husband might find her, Sara decided to create a new identity. “To achieve this, she allegedly changed her name, obtained fake Aadhaar and PAN cards, and forged new birth certificates for her daughters through a shop in Thane. She used these fake documents to apply for a passport and even passed the police verification,” said a police officer.
By October, she had completed the process and travelled to Abbottabad on a one-month visa with her daughters, where she married her Instagram boyfriend. While staying in Pakistan, she applied for a six-month visa extension but was unsuccessful. Her actions came under scrutiny when the Indian High Commission in Pakistan alerted central agencies about her attempt to extend her visa. The agencies monitored her movements, and her fraudulent activities were exposed after she returned to Thane in November, following her mother’s illness.
On July 20, an FIR was registered against Sara and the shopkeeper who assisted in procuring the fake documents. They were charged with cheating and forgery, as well as violations under relevant sections of the Indian Passport Act. No arrests have been made so far, and the investigation is ongoing.
An official criticized the police for their lack of diligence during the verification process, suggesting that Sara could have been caught earlier if proper procedures had been followed.
