Police Raid Reveals 12‑Year of Domestic Abuse
In Bara, a remote town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police apprehended a man accused of imprisoning his wife and five children at home for more than a decade.
French national Sylvie Yasmina, 54, says her husband assaulted her and her children daily, describing him as “very violent.” Police noted the children had physical injuries and were confined in a cramped, dilapidated room with bruises all over their bodies.
The police raid was prompted when one of the couple’s sons fled the house to file a report. After the house was searched, Yasmina and her children were transferred to a women’s shelter in Peshawar.
Yasmina and her family intend to return to France once they have received the necessary support and secure travel documents.
According to Yasmina, she and the children had been “effectively imprisoned” since 2014, after the family moved from Australia to Pakistan. The husband, a Pakistani national, was reportedly residing illegally in Australia when they met. They were married in 2003 and lived in Australia until 2014.
The law enforcement officer explained that “the older children missed their studies and the younger were never enrolled.” Yasmina claimed she had not communicated with anyone outside the household since they moved to Pakistan.
When reporting the incident to police, she stated, "We were deprived of our freedom… my husband didn’t take care of us as a husband or a father. He beats us and presses us daily. I felt that my future was already ruined, and the future of the children would be ruined as well."
Authorities have not identified the husband’s name, leaving his legal status and reputation under investigation.
