A love-struck couple from arch-rivals India and Pakistan, who met in a gaming chatroom before sneaking across borders to be together, say their passion trumped national rivalries or fear of religious backlash.
Sachin Meena, 22, an unmarried Indian shopkeeping assistant and a Hindu, connected with 27-year-old Seema Haider, a married Pakistani mother of four and a Muslim, playing the online shooting game PUBG during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. “We became friends and our friendship turned to love and our chats became longer — every morning and night — before we finally decided to meet,” said Seema, speaking to AFP from the cramped courtyard of Sachin’s two-room family home, where she now lives.
Seema, who left Pakistan and her husband with her four children by smuggling herself into India via Nepal in May, for which the couple was arrested and then bailed out last week, said she has since married Sachin and taken his name. “I converted to Hinduism,” she said, sitting next to Sachin in the village of Rabupura, about 55 kilometers from New Delhi.
“I’d rather die than return or leave Sachin”. While the lovers have found each other, the history of their respective nations is bitter. India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent in 1947. Each expelled the other’s high commissioner in 2019, and bilateral diplomatic, cultural, business, and sporting links are very limited.
Indian police insist that Seema’s long-term stay will be impossible. “I request the Indian government to grant me citizenship”, Seema pleaded, a red headscarf covering her hair and her four young children playing nearby. Apostasy is considered punishable by death in some interpretations of Islam. Seema said she had already received online threats and insisted the couple would “live and die together”.
Seema said she had been first attracted by Sachin’s gaming skills. Three years later, the couple met in person in March in Nepal. “It was very difficult to travel from Pakistan to India,” she said. “I believe that with God’s love, we were destined to meet”.
Sachin’s family only learned of her existence when he rented a nearby apartment with her. “There was some resistance, but my father and everyone accepted us. They are happy for us,” said Sachin. “I will do everything for them.”
“I am far from my home, from my family, and it is very agonizing for me because we married out of love.” In India, the couple has received a popular welcome. Crowds from nearby villages have been visiting them since their arrest grabbed national headlines.
While people know about Seema’s story, few are willing to talk about the incident openly — though they gossip in small groups on street corners.
Seema herself is unrepentant, calling Sachin the “love of her life” and insisting she will dedicate herself to her family. “My children will get all the love, care, and attention here,” she said.
(With inputs from agencies)
