Khyber district police rescued 54-year-old French national Sylvie Yasmina and her children from a house in Bara on June 22, 2026, after one of her sons reported years of alleged domestic abuse and confinement, according to officials. The woman had been living in the remote area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since 2014 with her Pakistani husband, who was arrested during the raid, police said. Yasmina was transferred with four of her children to a women’s police station in Peshawar and has expressed her wish to return to France, prompting authorities to contact the French embassy.
District Police Officer Waqar Khan detailed that officers acted on verified information received on June 18, 2026, which prompted the operation at the Bara Police Station jurisdiction. The Express Tribune reported that Yasmina told investigators she faced continuous physical and mental abuse while being barred from leaving the house or contacting outsiders over the past 12 years. One of the five children is hearing and speech impaired, according to the same account, which noted that the family’s conditions came to light when the son managed to slip away to file the complaint.
Khyber police shifted Yasmina along with her children to the Women Police Station in Peshawar for protection and further legal proceedings, a statement from the force confirmed. The husband, whom she married in Australia before the 2014 relocation to Pakistan, faces a registered case over the allegations, according to Dawn newspaper. A senior officer told the paper that the woman voiced gratitude for the intervention and sought repatriation, leading police to send formal communication to the French embassy through the Foreign Office.
In her statement to authorities, which local media carried, Yasmina described being deprived of freedom while her husband failed to provide for the family as expected. “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,” she said. “I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined,” the statement continued.
The Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey from 2017-18, cited in a UNFPA study on gender-based violence costs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, indicated that around 34 percent of ever-married women have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from a spouse. A separate UNFPA assessment found that more than half of those affected by such violence never sought help or disclosed their experiences. Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2025 noted that violence against women, including domestic abuse, persists as a serious issue across Pakistan.
CCPO Peshawar Dr. Mian Saeed issued instructions for the operation, which Khyber police described as part of efforts to safeguard vulnerable residents through prompt response to credible reports. The force transferred the rescued family into protective custody while investigations continued into the full scope of the reported conditions in the remote mountainous area. Officials have yet to release additional details on the husband’s background or the precise timeline of events preceding the June 18 complaint.
French authorities received official notification through established diplomatic channels to facilitate Yasmina’s potential return, according to police updates shared with local outlets. The case underscores procedural coordination between district forces, the provincial police leadership and foreign missions when foreign nationals are involved in domestic matters. No timeline for repatriation has been specified pending completion of legal formalities and embassy engagement.
