Hamida Bano, a Mumbai resident, returned to India after 22 years of being abducted and trafficked.
With the help of a Pakistani YouTuber who shared her story two years ago, she crossed the Wagah Border. It took two years for India and Pakistan to verify her identity and facilitate her return.
Hamida shared that her father was Gul Mohammad, and her mother was Amina Bono. She was one of seven siblings, with four brothers and three sisters, and her family lived near Mumbai’s Kurla railway station. After her husband passed away, she struggled financially to raise her two sons, Yusuf and Fazal, and two daughters, Yasmeen and Praveen.
To support her children, Hamida worked abroad. She spent nine months in Qatar, earning enough to arrange her sons’ marriages. Later, she worked in Dubai for six months and three months in Saudi Arabia. However, in 2002, she was unexpectedly sent to Pakistan instead of Dubai.
Hamida carried a small amount of hidden cash and tried to contact her family, but the phone numbers no longer worked. Losing hope, she ended up in Islamabad, where she was married. She revealed that she was among 500 women trafficked under the pretense of working in Dubai, with no knowledge of what happened to the others.
Two years ago, Hamida contacted Pakistani YouTuber Waliullah Mahroof, who helped reconnect her with her family in Mumbai. After years of effort and coordination between both countries, she has finally returned home.
