A five-year-old deaf and mute Pakistani girl, who inadvertently crossed the international border, was handed over to the Pakistani Rangers by Border Security Force. The BSF personnel found the girl in Natha Singh Wala Border Outpost area of under Abohar sector along the international border, Inspector General of BSF, Punjab Frontier, Anil Paliwal said. During questioning, the personnel realised the girl was mute and deaf as she failed to say anything, he said. Later, the Pak Rangers were contacted and the girl was handed over to them, the IG said. The girl was identified as Liva Bibi (5), daughter of Allah Ditta, and she hails from Sadiq village in Kasur district, located close to the Khemkaran sector in Punjab.

The BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) R S Kataria said the girl was spotted by the border force’s ‘Kisan Guards’, who accompany farmers whose land is close to the Indo-Pak border.

As a goodwill gesture and as part of confidence-building measures with Pakistan, the girl was returned on humanitarian grounds after her father identified her, the DIG said.

BSF sources said the girl’s father is a farmer and that she had accompanied him to his farm today, from where she strayed into the Indian territory.