Gitanath Ganguly, who runs Legal Aid Services, has petitioned the Calcutta High Court for permission to become Abdul's legal guardian in order to sign the consent form for a surgical operation to remove stones from her bladder. She is mentally disbalanced and therefore in no position to sign the risk bond. All her relatives are in Pakistan and her case is badly entangled in Indo-Pakistan diplomatic red-tape. So there is nobody to sign the consent-cum-risk bond mandatory for the surgery.

"The sad tale of Barao, which appeared in a Kolkata newspaper, touched us. We decided to stand by the poor woman," said Ganguli after filing the PIL which will be heard next week.

The PIL says that if it's not possible to appoint Ganguly as legal guardian, then the high court should direct authorities at N.R.S. Hospital, where Abdul is languishing for several months, to waive the risk bond stipulation for Barao and perform the surgery.

Abdul, who says she hails from Balgaon in Harchoyal district of Pakistan administered Kashmir, was found unconscious near Contai, on the Kolkata-Digha road, on April 27, 2006. She was admitted to Contai hospital by local residents and social workers. The attending doctor in Contai referred her to N.R.S. Hospital on May 16, 2006, but it took three months to actually send her to Kolkata.

Abdul was finally brought to N.R.S. Hospital and admitted to the psychiatric department on August 28.

According to attending doctor Srijit Ghosh, Abdul had suffered "a psychotic episode" and was hallucinating when she was admitted. She is "much better now" but is still confused and disoriented.

"It is tragic that what Abdul needs most for her recovery — a family environment she's familiar with — cannot be provided to her due to the strained relations between India and Pakistan," said Roy of Diganta, an NGO helping Abdul.

"The stalemate surrounding Abdul's treatment was discussed at a meeting attended by her doctor Srijit Ghosh, N.R.S. superintendent Basanta Khan and the surgeon who has recommended the surgery for the removal of the stone.

"Abdul's relatives are not around and she herself is not mentally sound enough to give consent for the surgery," he stressed.

The doctors attending to Abdul have decided to go ahead with pre-surgical tests, so the operation is not delayed once the clearance comes. The stone in the gall bladder was confirmed by two ultrasonography tests.

The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi is aware of Barao's plight but cannot do anything unless India's External Affairs Ministry allows consulate officials to visit Kolkata and identify the patient.

The process for sending Abdul back to Pakistan, or bringing her relatives to Kolkata, cannot begin until a Pakistani diplomat is permitted to meet her to verify that she is indeed a Pakistani.

For reasons best known to the Indian government, it is sitting on Pakistan's request for consular access to Abdul even as doctors and human rights groups here are getting increasingly impatient and angry.

"I can't remember how I came here, but I would love to go home to my family. I only wish someone comes to take me away from here," she told a Kolkata daily before she developed psychaitric complications.

"My father Sakhatar Abdul is a doctor in the Pakistan Army… My family had a mango orchard and dealt in fruits. I have a Master's in Arts… My husband's name is Abdul Rehman," she insisted when she was in her senses.