External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has taken up the case of torture of an Indian woman by her Pakistani in-laws. Sushma on Tuesday posted on Twitter that she had received a YouTube message from Mohammad Akbar that his daughter Mohammadia Begum, who is an Indian national, was being ill-treated by her in-laws in Pakistan. Based on the complaint, Swaraj directed the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to intervene and ensure her safety.
“Our mission sent a Note Verbale requesting the safety, security and well-being of Mohammadia Begum,” Swaraj tweeted. She added that the Indian Embassy has also been asked to prepare her travel documents to facilitate her return as her passport has expired.
“Our High Commission officials met Mohammadia Begum and she expressed her desire to return to India. I have asked Indian High Commission to renew her Indian passport and facilitate her return to India,” the Minister said.
According to reports the woman, who originally hails from Hyderabad in India, later informed her mother Hajara Begum over phone that her husband Muhammad Younis beat her up and locked her in a room after Indian High Commission officials met her.
Mohammedi Begum and Younis have five children. Her father alleged that Younis, a mechanic, had concealed his actual nationality and claimed to be from Oman at the time of marriage in 1996. The marriage was solemenised over telephone through an agent and Begum joined Younis in Muscat. However, after 12 years of marriage, when Younis lost his job in Muscat, he disclosed that he was a Pakistani and took her there.