Uttar Pradesh: Chinese woman gets 8-year jail term for illegal entry into India from Nepal

LUCKNOW: A Bahraich court on late Monday sentenced a Chinese woman to eight years of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for illegally entering India through the Indo-Nepal border in December 2023.

The verdict was delivered by the Third Additional Sessions Judge, who held the accused guilty under Section 14A of the Foreigners Act.The woman, identified as Li Jin Meiyi alias Li Xin Mei, was intercepted on December 2, 2023, at the SSB checkpost in Rupaidiha, where she was stopped for routine verification. On being asked to furnish documents, she produced a Chinese passport and a Nepal visa, but failed to show any valid permit or authorisation to enter India.Following this, she was detained and her belongings — including her passport, citizenship card, ATM cards, mobile phone, earphones, a massager device, a memory book, and religious texts written in Chinese — were seized as per procedure. An FIR was lodged at Rupaidiha police station (Case No. 417/2023) under the Foreigners Act.Sub-Inspector Vijay Kumar, who led the investigation, submitted the chargesheet to the court on December 7, 2023, after which the trial commenced on December 20, 2023.Police sources earlier stated that the woman had travelled to Nepal as a Buddhist monk and was attempting to cross into Uttar Pradesh when she was intercepted. The Chinese Embassy was informed soon after her arrest, officials added.