Indian Woman Returns Home After 22 Years in Pakistan Following YouTube Discovery

An Indian woman, who states she was trafficked to Pakistan over two decades ago, has now come back to her home country. This return occurred 18 months after her grandson identified her in a YouTube video. Hamida Banu stated that she had spent the preceding 22 years “as a living corpse,” confined in the adjacent nation and unable to reach her family. Ms. Banu was deceived into traveling to Pakistan in 2002, having accepted what she believed was a job opportunity in Dubai. Both India and Pakistan, nations characterized by a strained bilateral relationship, carried out thorough identity verification procedures before her Indian nationality was verified in October. “I was deceitfully taken to Pakistan by promising Dubai. I tolerated [the separation] for 23 years,” the 75-year-old individual informed journalists upon entering India at a land border crossing. In 2002, following her husband’s passing, Ms. Banu provided financial support for her four children by working as a cook in Qatar, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. A recruitment agent approached her, claiming to be able to secure employment in Dubai. The agent requested a payment of 20,000 rupees ($250; £200) from her. However, as Ms. Banu recounted in her 2022 video interview, rather than being taken to Dubai, she was transported to Hyderabad city in Pakistan and held in a residence for three months. Subsequently, she married a street vendor in Karachi, who passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic. She informed BBC Punjabi that her husband had never caused her distress. Her account gained significant attention in July 2022 after Indian journalist Khalfan Shaikh viewed the YouTube interview, which was conducted by Pakistani social media activist Waliullah Maroof, and subsequently shared it on his own platform. The video reached Ms. Banu’s family in India when her grandson, whom she had never encountered, watched it. Mr. Shaikh and Mr. Maroof subsequently facilitated a call connecting Ms. Banu with her family in India. In the video call, Ms. Banu’s daughter Yasmin was observed inquiring, “How are you? Did you recognise me? Where were you all these years?” Ms. Banu responded, “Don’t ask me where I was, and how I have been. I missed you all so much. I didn’t stay here willingly, I had no other choice.” Upon her arrival in India on Monday, Ms. Banu reflected on the 2022 video that enabled her to reconnect with her family after many years. She stated, “My video was shared two years ago. I was not sure if I would reach India.” She added, “But the Indian embassy called me one year ago, saying you can go back.” In an interview with BBC Punjabi, Ms. Banu expressed her happiness at being reunited with her children and siblings. She remarked, “I have brothers, sisters, children there [in India], but I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.”