New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP Brinda Karat Saturday sought Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s intervention in “an unjust case” of a Nepali student at a Pune film institute being deported and demanded a probe into the incident.
“It is apprehended that her deportation is a result of her domestic circumstances,” Karat said in a letter to Chidambaram, asking how a domestic “dispute” had become a matter concerning “national security”.

This “is a question that requires investigation,” Karat maintained.

Thirty-two-year-old Neetu Singh was reportedly deported at the behest of her influential husband Amaresh Singh, a Nepali Congress politician.

On the night of Dec 5, the Pune police allegedly deported Neetu to Kathmandu, saying that she was indulging in anti-national activities. The police reportedly picked her up from the hostel, packed her belongings, took her to Mumbai and deported her to Kathmandu the next day.

“It is unthinkable that in democratic India an adult woman should be deported simply because her husband and parents wish her to obey them and further that this should be projected by our law enforcement agencies as being a matter of national security,” Karat contended.

“She is allegedly a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband, a well connected politician in Nepal. Her parents had also sided with her husband. According to information confirmed by police in Maharashtra, her father had written several letters to the police in Pune asking for their help in deporting Neetu back to Nepal,” Karat said.

Karat said she received a letter from Neetu’s father Saturday “in which he admits” that he was “misled” by his son-in-law and that he would like Neetu to finish her studies. She also enclosed a copy of the letter to the minister.

Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told IANS Friday that the ministry has sought a report from the Maharashtra government on the incident.

Neetu married Amaresh two years ago in Kathmandu, in a major social event attended by Nepal’s top political establishment, including former prime ministers Prachanda, G.P. Koirala and Baburam Bhattarai.

But recent reports suggested the marriage had soured and Neetu wanted to break away.