Alinejad Kohnehshahri Mina (35) got robbed in Bengaluru and lost her mobile phone while coming to Mumbai.
A trip to India turned out to be a nightmare for an Iranian national after she was robbed of her valuables in Bengaluru, lost her phone while making her way to Mumbai, and had to spend three nights outside the international airport.
Officials at Terminal 2 of Mumbai international airport noticed her on the premises on Thursday and contacted officials from Iran Air, who arranged for her to go back home. Alinejad Kohnehshahri Mina (35), and her son, Mohammadanial (5), landed in India on February 20 to attend an English speaking course in Bengaluru.
Mina, a beautician in the Iranian capital of Tehran, first arrived in Mumbai by Iran Air's flight IR 810 and departed for Bengaluru on the same day. She stayed in the southern city in a paying guest facility in RT Nagar.
Within a week, Mina said, three locals robbed her handbag containing all her valuables and majority of cash, leaving her and her son stranded in an unknown city. Somehow, she managed to contact a friend, who arranged for a bus ticket to Mumbai and sent it to her via email.
Misfortune struck even on this journey when Mina lost her mobile phone. She came back to Mumbai on March 10, sans any means of contacting anyone and with some money. She then made her way to the arrivals area at Terminal 2 and sat on a bench on the city side.
Speaking to mid-day, Mina said, "I had my return ticket from T2 on March 20. So I had decided that I would stay at the airport till then." Mina fed her child using the little money she had left. Security personnel at T2 spotted the duo at 11 am on Thursday (March 12), perched on a bench on the city side of the arrivals lounge.
They struggled to understand her story, since she speaks a few words of English and they didn't speak Persian. Somehow, she managed to communicate that she had been robbed and had been staying at the terminal for three days.
"The woman kept changing places in the arrivals section and, hence, wasn't spotted easily. However, she confined herself to the east side of the area since Thursday and got noticed," said a security official from T2.
Officials then contacted personnel from Iran Airlines, and it was decided to send Mina and her son back home by IR 811 departing for Tehran yesterday at 2.30 pm. At the time of going to press, her flight had been delayed and was scheduled to take off at 11.30 pm.
Official speak"We have been taking care of Alinejad and her son since Thursday morning. She will fly back to Tehran at 11.30 pm today (Friday)," said P K Mehra, station manager for Iran Airways.