Doctor arrested for kidnapping Filipina

Mary Grace and her childr­en were taken hostag­e by Dr Zahid since Januar­y.

PESHAWAR: A Filipina, who was recovered from illegal confinement by police late Tuesday night, has blamed one Dr Zahid for keeping her captive. Dr Zahid has been arrested under section 365 and 342.

It was reported on Tuesday that the Gulberg police raided a flat in Peshawar on the request of the Philippines Embassy and recovered Mary Grace and her two children.

Tuesday’s report quoted a police official as saying that the victim, who was held hostage since January, had been sold to her abductor by a Nigerian national.

Mary, who recorded her statement before judicial magistrate Danish Afridi on Wednesday, said that she arrived in Pakistan for medical treatment on October 22, 2008. Her husband, John, the Nigerian national, met Dr Zahid for the first time on September 3, 2008 in Peshawar and the two soon became friends.

She had already given birth to her first child Sofia, 3, before she met Dr Zahid. Her son Kenneth is 10 months old.

She said that her husband sent her to Peshawar on October 22, 2010 and Dr Zahid came to receive her at the bus stop.

Talking to The Express Tribune, in the court’s premises, Mary said her husband, who is held under custody in Lahore for not possessing required traveling documents, could not be informed about her recovery.

“My father passed away and my mother lives in the Saudi Arabia. I knew I was kidnapped but I did not tell my mother because I did not want my family to get worried about me,” she said, adding that she had spoken to her family late Tuesday night.

Mary further said that when her mother was unable to contact her over the past few months, she got in touch with the Saudi Embassy. Her brother contacted the Philippines Embassy in Riyadh, which in turn got in touch with authorities in Pakistan.

Investigation officer at the Gulberg police station Mumtaz Khan said that Dr Zahid had been arrested and was being further investigated.

Talking to The Express Tribune, SP Mian Saeed Ahmad said that the consul general of the Philippines mission is in touch with the police.

“The consul general told us that they will follow diplomatic procedures and take Mary to the embassy,” he said, adding that Mary and her children were in safe hands.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2011.