Enchained woman rescued in Swabi

Police recovered a woman on Friday who had been chained inside a dark room by her father and brothers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district.

This is the second incident that has taken place in Swabi in which an enchained woman has been recovered.

Talking to The Express Tribune, District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Shoaib said the poor woman was recovered by Chota Lahore police.

“While patrolling the area, police received information about a woman named Naseha, daughter of Muhammad Ayub, who had been chained for the past three years inside a dark room by her father and brothers. Upon receiving this information, the police decided to immediately take action and raided the house,” the DPO said.

He added that the women was found to be chained to a bed inside a dark room where there was no electricity or lighting.

“The released woman told police that she married a local 12 years ago but the marriage ended in a divorce after one year and she returned to her father and brothers. Three years ago they chained her to a bed and started torturing her too,” he said, adding that the woman was shifted to a safe place and police arrested her father Ayub and two brothers Fazlullah and Saifullah too.

An FIR has been registered against the accused persons.

Sources familiar with the matter said Naseha was facing psychological problems due to prolonged captivity.

“The poor woman told police that her father married another woman and the second wife of her father doesn’t like her so it was her step mother who forced her father to take such an extreme step and lock her up,” said a policeman who spoke to the woman.

Earlier in July this year, Swabi police had recovered another woman who had been chained and locked up inside in a similar fashion by her family. She was 33 years old and a mother of two children.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2021.