French woman rescued in Pakistan after husband allegedly held her captive for 12 years

Pakistan police said on Wednesday that they had rescued a French woman and her five children after she told authorities she had been held captive by her husband for more than a decade and subjected to years of domestic abuse in the country’s northwest.

The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was rescued earlier this week from a mud-brick home in Bara, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, district police chief Waqar Ahmad said.

He said Yasmina’s husband, Ahmad Khan, had been arrested and investigations are under way.

Domestic violence remains a significant problem in Pakistan. Human rights groups say hundreds of women report physical and psychological abuse by husbands and other family members each year, although many cases are believed to go unreported.

Scores of women are murdered in Pakistan each year for violating conservative norms on love, marriage and public behaviour.

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How a local police programme is helping to empower women in Pakistan

According to police, Yasmina was rescued after one of her sons managed to leave the house and reach the local police station. She and her children were transferred to a women’s police station for protection.