Hamida Bano, an Indian woman living in Pakistan for the last 22 years, returned to her country on Monday via Wagah border in Lahore. The woman was deceived and taken to Pakistan by a travel agent. 72-year-old Hamida Bano was taken to Pakistan on the pretext of getting a job in Dubai. Family compulsions were such that Hamida Bano kept going abroad in search of work since the 90s. She also worked in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for about 9 years and used to return to Mumbai in between. During this time, an agent from Vikhroli promised her a good job and a hefty salary in Dubai and took her on a flight from Mumbai in 2002. Hamida is not educated, so she could not understand this conspiracy. After a few hours, she was not in Dubai, but in Pakistan.

Hamida narrated the story of reaching Karachi from Kurla in Mumbai

Hamida says that when she got off the plane, she raised questions about being taken to Pakistan. She was intimidated and asked to keep quiet. Then she was taken to some place in Hyderabad, Pakistan, where four-five more girls were brought in the same way. All of them were between 18 and 20 years of age. There was no fixed time for food and drink. Sometimes rotis were given during the day, sometimes at night. Hamida used to eat little by little, so that some rotis could be saved and then she could fill her stomach again when she felt hungry.

Hamida was told everyday that she would get a job today or tomorrow but she was never given a job. One day, the person under whose surveillance she was kept in the house went to the bathroom. Hamida knew where the keys were kept. She opened the door and ran away. After this, she boarded a bus and travelled till the last stop. After that, she took an auto and reached the next destination. Hamida was so lonely that she used to cry incessantly. With the money she earned from her jobs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, she had married off three out of her four children.

The man she married died of corona

Hamida had also arranged a house for her children in Mumbai, but the hellish life in Pakistan broke her. She had only one thought, why did she not die? After a few days, she married a man in Karachi for support. Her husband Mohammad Hanif in Mumbai died in the 2000s, while her husband in Pakistan died during the Corona period. The children born to her husband from his first wife in Pakistan took care of her. Hamida Bano of Mumbai was in Pakistan for 22 years while the children were in Mumbai. She was longing to come to India but was not able to succeed despite all efforts. Now that she has come back to India, she is 72 years old.

Her daughter Yasmin Sheikh says, I used to talk to Ammi almost every month. Every time she used to say that call me to India somehow. Apart from Yasmin, the other daughter Parveen is in Vikhroli. Two sons Yusuf and Fazal are in Karnataka.

The whole story came to light because of Pakistan's 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'

Hamida's story became public thanks to a Pakistani activist Waliullah Maruf. 29-year-old Maruf from Manghopir is the Imam of a mosque and since 2018, he has made it his mission to help people trafficked to Pakistan return to their country. Maruf interviewed Hamida in 2022 and posted it on social media. An Indian YouTuber Khalfan shared it. After that, this video reached Hamida's family living in Kurla and the children cried after watching it. The children took out her number and talked on video call. Since then, this series of video and audio calls was going on but the story was not moving forward.

But in the year 2022, Hamida's story got a lot of space in the media after which all the legal procedures were completed and finally now Hamida has returned back to India.