A Pakistani woman named Bano Begum who had come to India 35 years ago to attend a family wedding managed to get elected as the head of the village panchayat in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. Begum, who came to India from Karachi, Pakistan, stayed back and married a person named Akhtar Ali. So far, she has got her long-term visa extended over and over again.
Bano Begum contested rural body polls
According to reports, Bano Begum contested the rural local body elections in 2015 and was elected as the member of the village panchayat in Gudau village under Jalesar tehsil. Apparently she enjoyed the support of people in the village and so she won the last rural body polls as well. After the pradhan of the village, Shahnaz Begum, passed away in January last year, Begum was appointed as the officiating village pradhan by Gudau village panchayat members.
This was brought to the notice of the District Panchayati Raj Officer (DPRO) Alok Priyadarshi by a local named Quwaidan Khan in December last year. Begum submitted her resignation from the post. However, the Priyadarshi raised the matter before the Etah District Magistrate Sukhlal Bharti who ordered an investigation and the filing of an FIR against Begum.
She had procured forged IDs
After the investigation, it was found that she was not an Indian citizen. She had procured fake voter ID and Aadhar card. It is alleged that Gagau village secretary Dhyan Singh had suggested the name of Bano Begum for the post of officiating village head. He has been shifted from Gudau village panchayat. An investigation is also reportedly being conducted against those who helped her procure the forged documents.
