Police in Pakistan arrested a man who is accused of holding his wife and children captive in their home and abusing them for more than 10 years.
The wife, Sylvie Yasmina, a French national, told police that her husband physically and mentally assaulted the family on a daily basis.
One of their sons escaped to file a police report, leading to a raid on the house in Bara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police found Yasmina and her five children in a cramped, dilapidated room with bruises. Yasmina and her children are now in a women's shelter in Peshawar and plan to return to France.
Background
Yasmina, 54, said the family had been effectively imprisoned since moving from Australia to Pakistan in 2014. The husband, a Pakistani national, was reportedly residing illegally in Australia when the couple met. They married in 2003 and lived in Australia until 2014 with their two older children. Yasmina claims she had no communication with the outside world since moving to Pakistan. The three younger children were born in Pakistan and never enrolled in school.
Statement
In a written statement to police, Yasmina said:
"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."
She added, "I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined."