Mumbai court jails Bangladeshi woman for seven months for illegal stay, orders deportation

The Esplanade court in Mumbai has sentenced a 28-year-old Bangladeshi woman to seven months and 10 days of rigorous imprisonment for entering and staying in India illegally. She will be deported after completing her sentence. The woman is Surma Jahangir Khatun. Parksite police arrested her on March 5.

The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 20,000. She is expected to be sent back after serving her sentence in Thane Central Jail. The prosecution told the court that Khatun had been deported once in 2022 but had entered the country again.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rohini S Bhosale delivered the verdict on October 19. According to the prosecution, on March 5 Assistant Police Inspector (API) Kuldeep More received a tip that a woman suspected of having entered India illegally would come to Prabodhankar Thackeray Udyan on Road No. 17 in Parksite, Vikhroli West.

Woman police naik Pramila Gavit was on patrol with More. She later became the first complainant in the case. After informing senior officers, the team laid a trap in the presence of two independent panch witnesses.

The woman arrived at about 11.50 am. Asked to prove she was an Indian citizen, she did not give satisfactory answers. When she was searched in front of the panch witnesses, a Bangladeshi identity card and photocopies of a passport were found. Gavit then filed an oral complaint, and More filed the chargesheet on May 16.

An important piece of evidence in the case was the order of April 4, 2022, under which Khatun had earlier been deported. The court said the order is still in force and has not been challenged by anyone. The prosecution also produced a show-cause notice asking Khatun to prove her nationality, which she could not do.

Advocate Kasturi Pande, who represented Khatun under free legal aid, argued that the incident took place in broad daylight in a crowded area, yet the prosecution had not questioned any independent witness. The court rejected the argument that the testimony of police witnesses should be discarded merely because they are government employees.

The magistrate cited Section 16 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act and the Supreme Court's judgment in Abdul Sattar vs State of Gujarat (1964). She said the burden of proving nationality lies on the accused. According to the court, Khatun produced no evidence to show she is not a foreigner. In her statement recorded under Section 351 of the BNSS 2023, she also admitted her nationality. Public Prosecutor Sarika Raut said that staying in the country without permission is a matter of concern for national security.

Police Inspector Mustaq Khan said the department acted on the directions of senior officers. Khan said, "The court has accepted the prosecution's case and directed deportation. If any Bangladeshi returns despite a deportation order, we take strict action."

More said that since January 2026, Parksite police have begun legal proceedings to deport about 26 Bangladeshis, including three children. Two more cases are expected to be disposed of by the end of the month. According to More, many of them had come to India in search of a livelihood. He said, "Special Branch II will arrange to take them to West Bengal, and the BSF will help in their deportation. Our drive against illegal Bangladeshis will continue." The zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) also felicitated API Kuldeep More for this work.

Advocate Kasturi Pande said Khatun wants to return to Bangladesh with her brother Imon. Imon is also in custody on charges of staying in India illegally. Asked about an appeal, Pande said, "If my client asks me to file an appeal, I will act on her instructions."