Pakistan police have rescued a 54-year-old French woman and her five children who were held captive by her husband for 12 years in the country’s northwest, as per reports by The Associated Press,
The victim, a woman identified as Sylvie Yasmina, a French national was rescued from a mud-brick house in Bara, a remote town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Pakistan Afghanistan border. District police chief Waqar Ahmad confirmed that Yasmina’s husband, Ahmad Khan, has been arrested and a police investigation is currently underway.
Victims Of Abuse
The case came to light after one of the couple’s sons managed to slip away from the house and reach a nearby police station to alert the authorities, reported BBC Urdu. The police then subsequently carried out a raid on the house, where they found Yasmina and her children living inside a cramped and “extremely dilapidated room.” Police officials told AP that Yasmin had visible injury marks on her face, and authorities found bruises on the bodies of the other family members.
In her statement to the investigators, she alleged that her husband had “effectively imprisoned” the family since they moved to Pakistan from Australia in 2014. The couple got married in 2003 and lived in Australia, where investigators claim Khan was residing illegally when they first met.
Yasmina further added that her husband had an extremely violent temperament and subjected the family to physical and mental abuse on a daily basis.
Repatriation Process Underway
BBC Urdu also reported that as per a senior police officer, the family was entirely cut off from outside contact. The two older children missed their studies after moving, while the three younger children were born in Pakistan and were never enrolled in school. Following the rescue operation, Yasmina and her children were initially moved to a women’s police station and later transferred to a shelter home in Peshawar for protection.
Reports suggest that Yasmina has expressed her clear desire to return to France, and local Pakistani authorities are coordinating with the French Embassy regarding their repatriation. Commenting on the incident, Shabina Ayaz, the director of the rights group Aurat Foundation, condemned the treatment of the family and stated that the case should serve as a “wake-up call” for authorities and society regarding domestic violence in Pakistan.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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