Greater Noida’s Sachin Meena and Pakistan’s Seema Haider are set to embark on a new journey. On Friday, a court in Uttar Pradesh granted bail to both of them and also ordered that as long as the case continues, Seema will not change her residence and can live with Sachin. Seema Haider, a Pakistan national, was earlier arrested on July 4 for illegally crossing over into India with her four children through Nepal.

After her bail, Seema told Times of India that she has adopted Hinduism and dropped her surname Haider and adopted the name of Seema Sachin. “Seema is a common name in Hindus and Muslims and hence Sachin said I need not change my first name. I will call myself Seema or Seema Sachin. We have changed our children’s names to Raj, Priyanka, Pari and Munni,” she said.

Meanwhile, reports said that Sachin parents are planning a formal marriage function for the couple as per Hindu tradition soon.

During her questioning, the Uttar Pradesh police said that Seema said she came in contact with Sachin during the 2019-20 Covid lockdown while playing online game PUBG and eventually grew closer to the extent that they decided to live together in India. They later met in Nepal. In mid-May, Seema, along with her children, had moved to Nepal mid-May and from there, they came to Noida by a bus. And later Sachin, who worked in a grocery story, arranged for their stay in Noida. Sensing that police could on the lookout for them, the couple fled to Ballabhgarh but were later arrested.

According to reports, Seema had sold off a piece of land for Rs 12 lakh to fund her travel from Pakistan to Nepal and then to India.

Seema, who hails from Sindh province in Pakistan and was settled in Karachi after her marriage. Meanwhile, Seema’s husband Ghulam Haider, who works in Saudi Arabia, in a video message, urged the Indian government to “send Seema back to Pakistan and unite with me.” Seema, however, claimed her husband divorced her over the phone and that they had not been in touch for long. (With Agency Inputs)