Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and her children are now staying in a women's shelter after authorities raided their home in Pakistan
Credit: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police
NEED TO KNOW
- A French national was rescued with her five children after allegedly being held captive by her abusive husband in Pakistan for years
- Police found Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and her five children in what they described as a cramped, “extremely dilapidated” room and reported visible signs of physical abuse
- Yasmina and her children are now in a women’s shelter as authorities work on her repatriation to France
A woman and her five children were rescued after her husband allegedly abused her and held her captive at home in Pakistan for more than 10 years.
Police confirmed to the BBC and the Associated Press that a 54-year-old French national named Sylvie Yasmina was rescued with her children from a home in Bara, a small town in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
One of her sons was able to escape the home to file a police report, and authorities later raided the house.
Yasmina told police that her husband, identified by AP as Pakistani national Ahmad Khan, abused his family physically and mentally "on a daily basis" and that her family was "effectively imprisoned" by Khan.
She also described Khan as "very violent," police told the BBC.
"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 beat us and put pressure on our lives on a daily basis," Yasmina wrote in her statement to the police, per the BBC. "I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined."
When police located Yasmina and the five children during their raid, they were found in what they described as a cramped, "extremely dilapidated" room. They all had visible bruising, police said, per the outlets.
District police chief Waqar Ahmad told AP that Khan has been arrested and investigations are underway.
Credit: ABDUL MAJEED/AFP via Getty
Yasmina told authorities that she and Khan married in 2003 and lived in Australia.
The family moved to Pakistan in 2014, she said, sharing that she and the children had not been able to live freely after moving. Her children were never enrolled in school, she told police.
A senior police officer told the BBC, "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."
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Ahmad told AP that Yasmina wants to return to France, and authorities were working with French officials and the local embassy on her repatriation.
In the meantime, Yasmina and her children were moved to a women's shelter in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, located about nine miles outside of Bara.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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