Aug 8, (PTI): A couple from a village in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district has claimed that the deaf and mute Indian girl stuck in Pakistan for about 14 years is their daughter.

According to Anara Devi and her husband Ramraj Gautam of Thammohan village under Maheshganj police station in Lucknow, the girl, addressed as Geeta in Pakistan, is their daughter Savita who went missing since 2004, Inspector General Law and order A Satish Ganesh said in Lucknow.

Ms Devi claimed she had left the then four-year-old daughter with her brother Narain Das in Chhapra district of Bihar in 2004, the IG said.

She said that a few days later, Savita went missing and a report was also lodged with the police station concerned, Mr Ganesh said.

The girl, who is now 23-year-old, started living in Karachi after all efforts to trace her family in India remained unsuccessful. The Punjab Rangers brought her to the Edhi Foundation some 14 years ago.

Ms Devi claimed that she first recognised the girl on news channels, which showed her being looked after by a social welfare group in Pakistan, and approached the Maheshganj police station. She also informed the Pratapgarh District Magistrate and Superintendent Police about it, he said.

The district administration has been asked to verify the claims of the woman and get in touch with the police in Chhapra to check if the missing complaint was lodged with them, the IG said.

The Pratapgarh family, however, is not the first family to claim Geeta as their daughter.

The news channels have been showing the story of Geeta drawing a similarity with the reel life character 'Munni' of the Bollywood blockbuster 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'.