French woman rescued after 12 years held captive by abusive husband in Pakistan, police say
Sylvie Yasmina married the Pakistani national in Australia in 2003 before the family relocated to Pakistan in 2014
By Maroosha Muzaffar
A 54-year-old French woman and her five children have been rescued in northwestern Pakistan after authorities say they were allegedly held captive and abused by her husband for more than a decade.
Police arrested the man – whose identity has not been revealed – following a raid on their home in Bara, a town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on 18 June, after one of the couple’s sons managed to leave the house and alert authorities.
Officers told local media that they found Sylvie Yasmina and her children living in a small “dilapidated room”. Police reported that several family members showed signs of physical injuries.
According to Ms Yasmina’s statement to investigators, the family had been living under her Pakistani husband’s strict control since relocating from Australia to Pakistan in 2014.
Pakistan’s Geo TV reported that she claimed the abuse left the family with visible injuries and scars, and urged authorities to pursue criminal charges against her husband, whom she described as a “violent man” who subjected them to physical and psychological mistreatment “on a daily basis”.
She alleged that she and her children were prevented from interacting with others.
“We were deprived [of our] freedom, my husband didn’t take care of us the way he should as a husband and the father of my children. He beats us and put pressure on our lives on a daily basis,” Ms Yasmina reportedly wrote in her statement to the police.
“I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined.”
A senior police officer was quoted as saying by BBC Urdu: “According to the woman... She was not allowed to meet anyone, their two older children had missed their studies, while the three younger children were born in Pakistan and never enrolled in school.”
Ms Yasmina and her children have since been moved to a shelter in Peshawar and are expected to return to France. Pakistan’s foreign office has informed the French embassy that the woman and her children wish to go back to France.
Authorities said that the suspect remains in custody as investigations continue.
Pakistan police said the couple married in 2003 in Australia, where the suspect was allegedly “residing illegally”, before moving to Pakistan with their children more than a decade ago.