French Woman Sylvie Yasmina Rescued After Being Held Hostage by Husband in Pakistan for 12 Years

In Pakistan, a man has been arrested for allegedly holding his wife and children captive at their home for 12 years, subjecting them to physical abuse and mistreatment. Local officials reported that the rescued French national, Sylvie Yasmina, stated she endured “daily beatings and mental torture” at the hands of her husband. She described his behavior as “extremely violent.”

The family resided in a remote mountainous village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The police conducted a raid after one of the family’s sons escaped and alerted authorities. Yasmina and her five children were found confined in a small, dilapidated room, their bodies marked with bruises. They have been relocated to a shelter in Peshawar. Authorities confirmed plans are underway for their return to France.

According to Sylvie Yasmina, her husband began imprisoning the family after moving from Australia to Pakistan in 2014. Yasmina, now 54 years old, recounted the severe restrictions imposed by her husband. A senior police official revealed, “She was not allowed to meet anyone, the older children were forced to abandon their education, and although the younger children were born in Pakistan, they were not enrolled in school.” The identity of Yasmina’s husband has not been disclosed by the police; he is a Pakistani citizen who had been residing illegally in Australia alongside Yasmina.

The couple married in 2003 and lived in Australia until 2014 before relocating to Pakistan with two children. Yasmina claims that following their move, the family was completely cut off from any outside contact. In a statement to police, she wrote, “We were deprived of our freedom; he was supposed to care for us as a husband, but he did not. He would beat us and inflict daily suffering.”