It’s game over for secret lovers

Indian and Pakistani security forces guarding the border near Amritsar, India. In both countries, interfaith relations are somewhat of a minefield. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

THEIR love affair across one of the world’s most heavily guarded borders had begun on the virtual battlefields of a video game where players bond over having one another’s back against bloody enemy ambushes to become the last survivors.

But when Seema Ghulam Haider, 27, a married Pakistani Muslim, sneaked into India with her four children to be with Sachin Meena, 22, a Hindu man, their time together was brief.