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Upper Dir, PAKISTAN: An American woman recently journeyed thousands of miles from Illinois to a remote northwestern Pakistani district to marry a man who befriended her online over a year ago, praising the people here for their hospitable nature and urging other foreigners to ignore the “negative” perceptions about Pakistan. 

Mindy Rasmussen, a 47-year-old procurement specialist at an aviation repair station in Springfield, Illinois, arrived in Pakistan’s mountainous Upper Dir district’s Usheri Darra valley on June 29 to marry Sajid Zeb Khan, a 31-year-old who works at his father’s medical store. 

She’s not the first foreigner who crossed countries to marry a resident of Upper Dir, a district known for its picturesque scenery. An Indian woman, Anju, converted to Islam in July 2023 and changed her name to Fatima before getting married to Nasrullah, a resident of Upper Dir. Anju met Nasrallah on Facebook, with their romance making headlines worldwide at the time. 

Rasmussen, who converted to Islam and adopted the name Zulekha Zeb before marrying Khan on July 2, said he befriended her on Facebook a year ago.

“He (Sajid Khan) sent me a friend request on Facebook and I thought he was very handsome, so I accepted,” Rasmussen told Arab News, laughing. “His first message to me was, ‘I am Sajid Khan from Pakistan.’“

Rasmussen said she responded to Khan and the two got to know each other better as time progressed. 

“He is a really sweet, loving man and I fell in love with him over this past year that we have been talking,” she said. 

Khan is the eldest of nine siblings, who include five sisters and four brothers. The newlywed couple are currently living in Usherai Darra, a famous remote tourist spot in Upper Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. 

Khan told Arab News his conversations with Rasmussen went from messages to video calls as they grew close. Rasmussen eventually spoke to Khan’s family before she proposed marriage. 

“At the end, she proposed to me, saying, ‘Why don’t we get married as we are so close,’” he said. 

Traveling to the US was always difficult for Khan, given that Pakistanis have to undergo extensive background checks for a US visa, sometimes leading to delays and denials. Hence, he invited Rasmussen to come to Pakistan instead. 

And now that she’s here, he plans to take her to famous tourist attractions in KP. 

“We will go around in our own land, like our Swat, Kumrat, Chitral, Usherai Darra, especially Nehag Darra,” he said. 

‘AN OPEN MIND’

Touched by the people’s hospitality in Pakistan, Rasmussen praised the “tightly knit” community for showering her with affection. 

“The love that they have shown me, you know, we don’t really have this back in the US,” she said. “This level of community. I mean, everybody is a neighbor, is a friend, is a family,” she added. 

Pakistan’s northwestern KP province, despite being home to several glacial lakes, mountain ranges and picturesque locations that lure tourists in droves, has suffered from a surge in militancy recently.

Pakistani Taliban militants have launched attacks against law enforcers and citizens, especially in the tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, in their bid to impose their strict version of Islamic law. 

Rasmussen, however, said she had experienced neither “terrorism” nor any violence during her stay in the country. She advised foreigners not to harbor preconceived notions about KP. 

“Come with an open mind and you will see for yourself that this is a safe place, a peaceful place and just wonderful people,” she said. 

However, her visa expires on August 14 and she is in Pakistan for only a month. 

“I plan to go back to the US and then we are going to get Sajid’s [immigration] paperwork going and he is going to come to the US with me,” she said. 

Khan, meanwhile, insists he didn’t marry Rasmussen to secure an easy path to American citizenship, saying that she was his “honor” now. 

“She has arrived here by choice and has married me by choice,” he said. “Now, she can live by choice and leave by choice.”