KARACHI: After staying here for around four months, American woman Onijah Andrew Robinson left for New York via Dubai on Friday evening, officials said.

Robinson, 33, had befriended Nidal Ahmed Memon, a Karachi youth, online and left her family in the United States to be with him. She arrived in Karachi on October 11, 2024 to meet Nidal, who reportedly abandoned her, saying his family did not agree to their marriage.

On Friday, DIG-South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that Robinson left for the airport on her own after being discharged from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where she was under treatment since Feb 1.

According to the JPMC discharge certificate, she was diagnosed with the bipolar affective disorder.

The officials said that arrangements for her return to her homeland were made by the US mission here.

They recalled that when she was abandoned by her friend she was left “unattended and started roaming around the city, posing a potential risk to her life. From her condition, it appears that the incident has had a ‘significant impact’ on her mental well-being leaving her mentally distressed”.

Given her status as a foreign citizen, the police authorities intervened and when it became evident that she required urgent medical attention for her psychological condition, she was temporarily placed under the supervision of medical authorities for psychological help, they added.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2025