KHYBER: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police on Monday announced the recovery of a French woman and her children from a house in Bara after allegations of domestic abuse and physical torture inflicted by her husband, who was also taken into custody.

On June 18, in a written complaint submitted to the Khyber district police officer (DPO), Sylvie Yasmina, 54, claimed that she and her children had been living in an extremely difficult situation for the last 12 years as her husband had been subjecting them to domestic abuse and physical torture.

The complainant alleged that her husband had deprived her and her children of freedom and was not fulfilling his legitimate duties as a caring husband and father.

“He beats us and puts pressure on our lives on a daily basis. We have scars on our faces and other parts of our bodies due to his violent outbursts,” she alleged.

The complainant appealed to the police to register a criminal case against her husband, after which the police filed a First Information Report the same day under sections 337 (shajjah), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as the the KP Domestic Violence against Women (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2021.

Acting upon the directives of the DPO, the Bara station house officer raided the home where the complainant lived. She and her children were rescued and subsequently shifted to a women’s police station for security purposes, while her husband was arrested by the police.

In a video recorded by the police, the complainant in a mix of English and Pashto said that she had married her husband, a local, in 2014 and resided in Bara since then. She was grateful to the police for rescuing her and expressed a desire to be repatriated to her country of origin.According to APP, police officials stated that the woman has expressed her desire to return to France. In response, a formal communication has been sent to the French embassy through the Foreign Office to facilitate the necessary arrangements, the official added.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2026