Save our daughter being tortured in Pakistan: Hyd parents appeal to Sushma Swaraj

Mohammadia Begum’s parents have been trying to rescue their daughter, who has been stuck in Pakistan and is allegedly being tortured by her husband and in-laws.
Save our daughter being tortured in Pakistan: Hyd parents appeal to Sushma Swaraj
Save our daughter being tortured in Pakistan: Hyd parents appeal to Sushma Swaraj
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"Sushma Swaraj ji. My daughter is in great distress. Please take some action and get my daughter back. She is India's daughter, stuck in Pakistan. Please help us with the ticket."

This was the appeal made by teary-eyed Hajra Begum, a resident of Hyderabad, to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a video posted on YouTube.

For close to a year now, Hajra and her husband, Mohammed Akbar, have been trying to rescue their daughter, 45-year-old Mohammadia Begum, who has been stuck in Pakistan and is allegedly being tortured by her husband and in-laws.

"We are residents of Errakunta. It has been so many days since my daughter left, but they are not sending her back. Her visa has also arrived, but still they are not willing to send her home," Akbar said in the video appeal.

"She is very worried and has fallen sick. She wants to return home to us. The husband also beats her and doesn't give her food on time. I request Sushma Swaraj, to please help us out and send our girl back," he added.

Background

When 23-year-old Mohammadia Begum, a resident of Hyderabad, was married off to Mohammed Younis, a mechanic in Muscat in 1996, little did she realise that her life was going to take a turn for the worse.

"At the time, Younis kept telling us that he lived in Muscat, worked in Muscat, and was an Omani national. We made the mistake of believing him," Akbar had told TNM earlier this year.

The 'nikah' was performed over telephone through an agent and Begum joined Younis in Muscat. After 12 years of marriage, Begum got a shock when Younis, who had lost his job, disclosed that he was a Pakistani.

By then, they already had four kids – two sons and two daughters.

Mohammadia Begum had visited Hyderabad in 2012. Her father said this was her only visit to India in 21 years.

Stuck despite govt help

What is even more troubling, is that Sushma Swaraj had already intervened in this case once.

In March this year, she said that the Indian High Commission had met the victim and was ensuring her safety and return to India.

"Our mission sent a Note Verbale requesting the safety, security and well-being of Mohammadia Begum. Our High Commission officials met Mohammadia Begum and she expressed her desire to return to India," she had said.

As the Hyderabad woman's passport had expired last year, Sushma asked the Indian High Commission to renew her Indian passport and facilitate her return to India.

Following this, reports say that authorities had granted a visa to the woman to travel to India in November, but it expires on December 16, with time running out quickly.

"We got the passport and visa thanks to you, but still the husband is not sending our daughter back. He is saying that he will not send her back at all. The visa will expire soon. He constantly beats her, abuses her, and humiliates her in front of many people," Hajra Begum said in the video, addressing Swaraj.

"He's saying that he won't pay for a ticket, but how can we afford it? We are a poor family, and we're still living in a rented place. Please help us with the ticket," she added.  

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