2 deported for visa overstay

It was heartbreak for Mohanapriya, a 25-year-old woman from Jaffna, who arrived here on Sunday night to get married to another Lankan. As she had overstayed her visa on a previous visit in 2010, immigration staff refused her entry into the country.

Mohanapriya and her sister Thangarathinam had notices against their name with the Ministry of External Affairs, that barred them entry till February 2013.

The woman flew in with her sister by an Air India flight from Colombo. However, immigration officials refused her entry despite her claims that she was to be married at a marriage hall in Vadapalani on Monday. Her fiance Antony, also a Sri Lankan, was brought in for questioning but this did little to change their minds.

Ultimately, after spending half a day inside the international airport, the sisters were sent back on an Air India flight. Immigration sources maintained that most of these visa-offenders who asked to be let into the country under the ‘urgent’ pretext were just pretending.