Hamida Banu: Missing Indian woman found in Pakistan ‘can’t wait to go home’
Waliullah Maroof (right) helped reunite Hamida Banu with her family
An Indian woman who was missing for 20 years has been found in Pakistan with the help of a video on social media.
Hamida Banu left India in 2002 after a recruitment agent promised to get her the job of a cook in Dubai. Instead, she says, she was tricked and trafficked to Pakistan.
Ms Banu’s family in India’s Mumbai told BBC Marathi that they spent two decades trying to find her – and they finally managed to do so because of two men, one in India and the other in Pakistan.
The neighbouring countries share a tense relationship, which often makes it difficult for Indians and Pakistanis to travel across the border. In Ms Banu’s case, she was also hobbled by a lack of financial resources and know-how.
But through the years, she never stopped yearning to meet her children. Finally, in July this year, Waliullah Maroof, a social media activist, interviewed Ms Banu and uploaded the video online.