A French woman and her five children have been rescued by Pakistani police after she alleged that her husband held the family captive for more than a decade and subjected them to years of physical and psychological abuse.

The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was found with her children in a cramped and “extremely dilapidated” room during a police raid at their home in Bara, a remote town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Police said the rescue operation was launched after one of Yasmina’s sons managed to leave the house and reach a local police station to report the alleged abuse.

Authorities said Yasmina and her children were found with visible injuries, including bruises on their bodies. They have since been moved to a women’s shelter in Peshawar while officials coordinate arrangements for their return to France.

According to police, Yasmina alleged that her husband, a Pakistani national, had “effectively imprisoned” the family after they moved from Australia to Pakistan in 2014.

The couple had married in 2003 and lived in Australia before relocating to Pakistan with their two older children. Yasmina claimed she had been cut off from the outside world after the move, while her three younger children, who were born in Pakistan, were never enrolled in school.

A senior police officer told BBC Urdu:

“She was not allowed to meet anyone, their two older children had missed their studies, while the three younger children were born in Pakistan and never enrolled in school.”

In her statement to police, Yasmina alleged years of violence and neglect, saying the family had been deprived of their freedom.

“We were deprived [of our] freedom, my husband didn’t take care of us the way he should as a husband and the father of my children. He beats us and put pressure on our lives on a daily basis.”

Police have arrested the woman’s husband, identified by authorities as Ahmad Khan, and an investigation is underway.

District police chief Waqar Ahmad said Yasmina had expressed a desire to return to France, with Pakistani authorities working with relevant officials and the French embassy regarding repatriation.

The investigation into the alleged abuse and the circumstances surrounding the family’s years in isolation remains ongoing.

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