Pakistani woman facing deportation

A Pakistani woman has petitioned a court in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in an attempt to stop efforts to deport her from India.

The case concerns her appeal for a visa extension on the grounds of her being married to an Indian national and their seven-month old baby being an Indian citizen by birth.

Tasleem Murad, whose husband is in custody in the US, lodged her appeal at the state's High Court on Monday, a day after being taken into custody by police prior to her deportation to Pakistan.

Last week, a bench of the High Court in Hyderabad ruled against her plea for visa extension.

Petition dismissed

Ms Murad, formerly a resident of Karachi in Pakistan, says that the bench has yet to provide her with a copy of its judgement.

She says without a copy of its ruling, she cannot proceed with an appeal.

Ms Murad's problems began a couple of months ago when the Hyderabad city police served a notice asking her to leave the country following the expiry of her one-year old visa.

She filed a petition in the High Court last month challenging the notice on the grounds that she was married to an Indian citizen and that their seven month-old infant son was Indian by birth.

But last week, a High Court bench dismissed her writ petition on the ground that the Indian Government had not accepted her application.

Husband in US jail

City police took Ms Murad into custody following the bench's rejection of her petition.

She was released after the state home minister intervened on her behalf, granting her five days time on the condition that she would leave India voluntarily by then.

Ms Murad told journalists on Sunday she feared being deported to Pakistan because her son is Indian and will not be accepted by the authorities there.

Ms Murad's husband, Mohamed Jaweed Azmath, is in custody in the US facing charges of credit card fraud.

Ms Murad had come to India in March 2001 on a short-term visa and married her cousin.

She has lived in India ever since although her visa expired this past February.