Teenager from Malda crosses border for love, is escorted back home

MALDA: Love knows no borders. A teenage girl from a border village in Malda, who fell in love with a Bangladeshi youth, slipped across the fence only to be brought back by Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) four days later following a request by Indiaâs Border Security Force (BSF). The girl, though, insists she will wait till 18 and then again cross the border to marry the man she loves.Tumpa Khatun (name changed), a 14-year-old residing in Gopalnagar village under Tapan police station, had since childhood been accompanying her father to tend to a plot of land that lay behind the fence erected around 40-50 metres before the actual border. BSF opens the gates two-three times a day after daybreak to allow Indians access to the farmlands and return before dusk. It was sometime during the sowing of seeds or reaping the crops that she Karim Babu of Naogaon, Bangladesh. It was love at first sight. The furtive glances that were exchanged sowed the seeds of a love affair. Sometime early this month, Karim proposed marriage. Swept by emotions, Tumpa left her home for the field on June 17 but didnât return when the gates finally closed for the day.Realizing something was amiss, and perhaps even suspecting she had eloped, the family lodged a missing diary at Tapan police station. S Sangbo, the officer-in-charge of Tapan PS, said: “We got to know that the girl had crossed the fence and contacted BSF. They, in turn, contacted BGB and a search was launched for the girl. She was tracked down to Karimâs house. They then handed her over to the family through BSF,” he said.The parents said they are relieved to have their daughter back. But Tumpa insists the separation from Karim is only temporary. “Iâll marry Karim and no one else. Once I turn 18, I will walk across the border. And no force can then separate us,” she said.