Coronavirus delays wedding of Pak bride and Indian groom; duo appeals to PM Modi for visa

Pakistan-based Sumaila and a resident of Punjab's Jalandhar, Kamal Kalyan were set to get married in March but the coronavirus lockdown had some other plans for them. The couple, who got engaged through a video call in 2018, had to delay the wedding as the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc globally and put most of the countries in lockdown.

The duo has sought now Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in securing visas for Sumaila and her family members for their wedding.

Through the media, Sumaila has urged PM Modi to allow visas for her and her family members and she wants to get married to Kalyan as soon as visas are granted by the government of India.

"Kalyan has prepared the papers for visa sponsorship. But he was unable to send these papers to Pakistan due to COVID-19 lockdown. I urge the Government of India that both countries should issue visas in the matter of marriage soon and open borders," Sumail said over the phone.

Kamal, the groom, has also requested PM Modi to allow his fiancée to come to India.

"I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant a visa to Sumaila so she can come to India and we can get married. I had completed the requisite paperwork but the process was stalled due to corona lockdown," he said.

The couple has not met each other so far. They have been communicating over the phone. Their families agreed on the relationship on January 26, 2018, and they got engaged through a video call.

Om Prakash, Kamal's father, informed that Sumaila is the daughter of his cousin Asiya so he decided to fix this relationship. "Sumaila is the daughter of my cousin Asiya so I decided to fix this relationship. My son got engaged but he could not get married due to lockdown," he said.

(With ANI inputs)