SWAT: The police have reunited a 70-year-old woman with her family here almost six decades after her abduction.

Bakhmal Bibi went to the Mangalwar police station two days ago and sought help to locate her family, said SHO Ejaz Ahmad.

“The elderly woman came to our police station and insisted that she was kidnapped from her [Mangalwar] village around 60 years ago when she was playing outside her house as a little child and was taken to Nawab Shah area in Sindh province,” he told reporters.

The SHO said the woman knew the names of her brothers and hometown that helped the police find her family.

He said Bakhmal Bibi visited Swat a few years ago, too, but returned without getting any clue to the whereabouts of her family.

“As the woman was determined to find her family, she returned and got in contact with us [police]. We formed a team, whose dedicated efforts paid off as her brother, Mushta Gul, was found here. Now, she is with him,” he said.

Mr Ahmad said it was an emotional moment to see the woman meet her brother after decades.

“Overwhelmed with joy, both [Bakhmal Bibi and her brother] hugged each other after recognition. That reunion was the fulfillment of the lifelong desires of both,” he said.

The police said the woman’s parents had died long ago.

The woman was accompanied by her daughter, who didn’t understand Pashto and spoke to the media in Urdu and Sindhi.

Bakhmal Bibi said she wanted to express her excitement and immense gratitude at seeing her brother, but words failed her.

She said for her, that reunion at the very old age was not an ordinary moment and instead, it was the “filling of a longstanding vacuum of agony at last”.

The woman said she got married to Nawab Shah and lived a happy life but her only wish was to meet her family in Swat.

She said she planned to spend a few days with her brother before returning and hoped that their bond would continue.

Mushta Gul also said she desperately wanted to see his missing sister.

“I vividly remember my parents recalling my sister’s disappearance at the age of 10. We [family] searched for her everywhere, but to no avail, and gave it upafter the passing of our parents. I feel an immense happiness to see my wish finally come true,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2023