A 54-year-old French mother and her five children have been rescued after her husband allegedly kept them captive in a single, dilapidated room for twelve years in Pakistan. The man has been arrested following a police raid triggered by one of the sons escaping to alert authorities.
Discovery and Rescue
The alleged abuse was uncovered when one of the sons managed to sneak out of the home and inform police officers about the situation. Police raided the property in the remote town of Bara in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where they found French national Sylvie Yasmina and four of her five children huddled in a filthy and cramped room that had essentially been their cell, according to the BBC.
Victim's Account
Yasmina and her children were taken to a refuge shelter in the city of Peshawar. The 54-year-old mother told BBC Urdu that her "very violent" husband had abused her "on a daily basis." In a statement to police, she reportedly said: "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." She added: "We have scars on our faces and other parts of our bodies due to his violent outbursts. I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined."
Family Background and Plans
Police say that Yasmina and her five children, one of whom is reportedly deaf and mute, plan to return to her native France. A police spokesperson stated: "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." The unnamed husband has been arrested. According to the BBC, the couple met in Australia where he had been "residing illegally," marrying in 2003 before moving to his home in Pakistan in 2014. The investigation into the alleged imprisonment and abuse remains ongoing.
