Hamida Banu, a woman from Mumbai, reunited with her family in India after spending more than 20 years in Pakistan, where she claims to have been "taken by deceit". She arrived in Amritsar via Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, December 17, a year after the Indian Embassy contacted her and told her that she could finally go back to India.
After returning to India, Hamida Banu narrated her ordeal and how she ended up in Pakistan nearly 23 years ago. "I have returned to India from Pakistan after 20 years. I used to live in Pakistan and I was taken there by deceit. I have returned to India after 23 years. My video went viral on social media. A year ago the Indian Embassy contacted me and said that I can go to India. Today I have returned to India," she said.
The woman, who is now 75, said she was deceived and taken to the neighbouring country on the pretext of a job in Dubai. However, she was taken to Karachi, where she got married. Her husband died after 12 years of marriage.
An interview of Hamida Bano had gone viral only after which her daughters in India got to know that their mother was alive and in Pakistan. The Indian Embassy in Pakistan also watched the video, following which they initiated the process of sending her back to her country India.
According to a report by Times Of India, Hamida Banu was promised a job in Dubai by a recruitment agent in 2002. She instead got trafficked to Karachi where she experienced hardships as she lived on the streets, stayed in a mosque, and even ran a small shop.
Her life changed when a Pakistani YouTuber recognised her as the woman from whom he bought knick knacks as a child on his way to school. He shared her story in an interview which later went viral.
Banu's daughter, sister, nephew, and brother, reportedly took the Amritsar Express from Mumbai a day before her return and received her at the border.