Hamida Banu: Missing India woman found in Pakistan returns home

Hamida Banu was promised a job in Dubai, but says the recruitment agent instead took her to Pakistan.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersMissing India woman found in Pakistan returns home after 22 yearsWaliullah MaroofHamida Banu at her Karachi residence in 2022An Indian woman who says she was trafficked to Pakistan more than two decades ago has finally returned home - 18 months after her grandson spotted her in a YouTube video.

Hamida Banu said she had spent the last 22 years "as a living corpse", trapped in the neighbouring country and unable to contact her family.

Ms Banu was tricked into going to Pakistan after accepting what was supposed to be a job in Dubai back in 2002.

Both India and Pakistan - which share a frosty bilateral relationship - conducted extensive checks on her identity before her Indian nationality was confirmed in October.

"I was deceitfully taken to Pakistan by promising Dubai. I tolerated [the separation] for 23 years," the 75-year-old told journalists after crossing into India at a land border.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c983l216j95o

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