Nat Geo’s famous ‘Afghan Girl’ arrested in Peshawar for carrying forged CNIC

The famous Afghan girl who got featured on National Geographic’s cover and was dubbed ‘Mona Lisa of Afghanistan’, was recently arrested from Peshawar. The woman, named Sharbat Bibi, was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from her home for forgery of a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC). She reportedly has dual Pakistani and Afghan identities and both the cards have been recovered from her.

Bibi has been charged under Section 419, 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 5(2) of Prohibition of Corruption Act. The officer who issued the ID car to Sharbat Bibi is now working as a deputy commissioner in customs and got bail-before-arrest to avoid arrest in the case.

This is not the first time that Bibi ran in trouble with the Pakistani authorities as last year, NADRA issued three CNICs to Sharbat Bibi and two men who claimed to be her sons. When NADRA’s vigilance department got suspicious about the CNICs, it informed the FIA and an investigation was conducted. It was found out that Bibi just had two daughters and a two-year-old son.

Even the information given on the forms turned out to be fake. An inquiry was immediately launched and the officers held responsible for the issuance were sacked.

Sharbat Bibi first got fame at the age of 12-years, when a National Geographic photographer, Steve McCurry captured her photograph at an Afghan refugee camp in 1984. Her picture was featured on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine, after which she got international fame.

She was discovered again in 2002 and Nat Geo made a short documentary on her life.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=54041

Posted by fatimaarshad on Oct 26 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.