After 22 years in Pakistan, Indian woman duped by travel agent on pretext of job finally returns home
Hamida Banu, trafficked to Pakistan 22 years ago, has returned to India through the Wagah border. She was lured to Pakistan with the promise of a job in Dubai.
FollowA woman who was trafficked to Pakistan 22 years ago has finally returned to her homeland, India. 75-year-old Hamida Banu arrived at the Attari junction in India via the Wagah border on Monday. Hamida and her family, who had been waiting for this moment for a very long time, burst into tears on emotional reunion.
Her sister, brother-in-law, and brother welcomed her with great emotion and warmth at the Attari junction. They arrived at Attari junction from Mumbai via the Amritsar Express to receive Hamida. As she was leaving Karachi for India, the man she had married there and his relatives asked her if they would be missed. Hamida replied that she would not miss them and was happy to return to her homeland. When they accused her of betrayal, she jokingly said she was just kidding and appeased them.
Her son, currently working in Karnataka, had advised her against working abroad, but she wanted to go abroad with the vision of creating a bright future for her children. Hamida, a mother of four, went to Qatar in 2002 with the intention of working as a cook. An employment agency that offered jobs abroad promised her a job in Dubai and later trafficked her to Pakistan instead. There, she had to live on the streets or sometimes in mosques. Later, she started running a small shop.
After this, she married a Pakistani man named 'Daar Muhammad', who died a few years ago. Later, she came into contact with a Pakistani YouTuber. In 2022, the YouTuber interviewed Hamida about how she came to Pakistan and broadcast it on YouTube. In this interview, she shared information about being trafficked to Karachi along with another Indian woman from Bengaluru, Shahanaz.
After this video went viral on social media, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad verified her identity and booked her a flight ticket from Karachi to Lahore. After this, she was sent to the Wagah border, and finally, she arrived in India, reached the Wagah border, and is now reunited with her family.
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