Woman kept prisoner and beaten for 12 years after marrying Pakistani migrant

Police in Pakistan have arrested a man who allegedly imprisoned and beat his wife and five children over a 12 year period. His wife, a French national named Sylvie Yasmina, claims the man assaulted his family physically and mentally “on a daily basis” and described him as “very violent”, local police told BBC Urdu.

One of their sons managed to sneak out to make a police report, which led to a raid of their house in Bara, a remote town in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Officers told local media they found Sylvie Yasmina and her children living in a cramped, dilapidated room, with several family members reportedly showing signs of physical injury. Pakistan’s Geo TV reported that she claimed the abuse left the family with visible injuries and scars, as she described her husband as a “violent man” who subjected them to physical and psychological mistreatment “on a daily basis”.

Ms Yasmina reportedly wrote in her statement to the police: “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 beats us and put pressure on our lives on a daily basis.

“I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined.”

Yasmina and her children have been taken to a women’s shelter in Peshawar. They plan to move back to France, the police say.

According to Yasmina, 54, her husband had “effectively imprisoned” the family since they moved to Pakistan from Australia in 2014.

A senior police officer was quoted as saying by BBC Urdu: “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.”

Yasmina’s husband has not been named by officials, who say the Pakistani national was living in Australia without legal status when the pair first met.

After marrying in 2003, the couple remained in Australia for more than a decade before relocating to Pakistan with their two eldest children in 2014. Yasmina says she was then cut off from all contact with the outside world.

Authorities said that the suspect remains in custody as investigations continue.