Pakistan Police Rescue French Woman, Children After Years in Captivity
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani police said on Wednesday they rescued a French woman and her five children after the woman told authorities she had been held captive by her husband for more than a decade and suffered years of domestic violence in the country’s northwest.
The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was rescued from a mud house in Bara, a town near the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, earlier this week, district police chief Waqar Ahmad said.
He said Yasmina’s husband Ahmad Khan has been arrested and investigations are ongoing.
Domestic violence continues to be a significant problem in Pakistan. Hundreds of women report physical and psychological abuse by their partners and other family members each year, human rights groups say, but many cases are believed to go unreported. Scores of women are killed every year in Pakistan for violating conservative norms regarding love, marriage and public behavior.
According to the police, Yasmina was rescued when one of her sons managed to get out of the house and reach the local police station. She and her children were transferred to a women’s police station for protection.
Police chief Ahmad said the woman had expressed her wish to return to France and authorities were coordinating with relevant authorities and the French embassy regarding her repatriation. There has been no statement from the French embassy yet.
According to the police, in her first statement, Yasmina claimed that her husband physically and psychologically abused her and had an extremely violent temper. Ahmed told The Associated Press that Yasmina and her children were found in a dilapidated room and there were visible signs of injury on her face.
Yasmina told investigators that she had not been able to live freely since moving to Pakistan in 2014. Ahmad said his children were never enrolled in school.
In a video recorded by the police and shared with the media, Yasmina spoke in a mixture of English and Pashto, thanking the police officers for saving her and reiterating her wish to return to France.
Shabina Ayaz, director of human rights group Aurat Foundation, condemned the alleged treatment of Yasmina and said she hoped the French embassy and Pakistani authorities would provide all possible assistance to the family, saying the case should be a wake-up call for authorities and society.
