SC-Ordered Repatriation: Pregnant Sunali and Her Son Brought Back to India After 103 Days in Bangladesh Jail

After more than three months in a Bangladeshi prison, 26-year-old Birbhum resident Sunali Khatun and her young son Sabir were brought back to India on Friday evening, following a Supreme Court order directing

the Centre to facilitate their return. The two were repatriated through the Malda border, reports PTI. There is still no clarity on when four others, including Sunali’s husband, who were deported along with her and whose return has also been ordered by the Supreme Court, will be brought back.According to officials, Sunali, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was handed over to an Indian official of deputy high commissioner rank around 7 PM. After completing border procedures at the BSF camp in Mehedipur, she was taken to Malda Medical College and Hospital for medical evaluation. She is expected to return to her home in Paikar village in Birbhum district on Saturday, subject to medical clearance.Sunali was picked up by Delhi Police on June 18 from the Bengali Basti in Rohini’s Sector 26, where she had lived for more than 20 years and worked as a waste collector. She, her husband Danesh, and their son were subsequently declared suspected Bangladeshi nationals by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and pushed across the border. Another family from the same Birbhum village, Sweety Bibi and her sons, Qurban Sheikh and Imam Dewan, was also deported.All six were detained at the Chapai Nawabgunj correctional facility in Bangladesh on August 20 as alleged "infiltrators". They were granted bail on December 1 against a bond of Tk 5,000 each.The Centre had challenged a Calcutta High Court order from September 26 directing the government to bring back Sunali and the other detainees within four weeks. The West Bengal government also filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court accusing the Centre of ignoring the high court’s directions.During hearings, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi sharply criticised the Centre for deporting individuals without due process. The court noted there was "ample evidence" contradicting the police version, including 1952 land records, 2002 electoral rolls listing Sunali’s parents as voters, Aadhaar and PAN documents, and birth certificates of the children. These records, the bench said, undermined police claims that Sunali entered India illegally in 1998 - when she had not yet been born, reported PTI. The bench stressed that while illegal immigrants can be deported, authorities must verify citizenship claims before doing so. “If someone says they were born in India, grew up here, they have rights. Their version must be heard,” the court observed.On December 3, the Centre informed the court it would repatriate Sunali and her minor son "on humanitarian grounds".TMC MP Samirul Islam welcomed the return, posting on X: "Finally, after a long battle against the Bangla-Birodhi Zamindars, Sunali Khatun and her minor son have returned to India… After enduring six months of unimaginable suffering, she and her child have at last returned to their homeland." He also accused the Centre of inaction, saying advocates had to raise the matter again before the Supreme Court to ensure compliance.