Thanks To Social Media! Tricked By Job Recruiter, Missing Indian Woman Found In Pakistan After 20 Years

An Indian Muslim woman who went missing 20 years ago has been found in Pakistan with the help of a video posted on social media. She is now appealing to the Indian government to enable her to reunite with her family.

Hamidi Begum lost all contact with her family two decades back when a recruitment agent in Mumbai, Maharashtra, promised her employment in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) but trafficked her to Pakistan.

An imam of a mosque in Karachi, Waliullah Maroof, said the Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad had got in touch with him and wanted to meet Hamidi to send her back to her home in Mumbai.

Maroof told PTI, "She is desperate to go home and reunite with her family as she now lives in Karachi with her stepson," quoted NDTV.

Tricked By Recruiting Agent 20 Years Ago

Hamidi said on call in a heart-rending voice that she had not seen her family and children for the last 20 years and craved to hug them. She said, "I was able to speak to my daughter and granddaughter on a video call, but I want to meet them in person."

In 2002, Hamidi was promised employment in Dubai by a recruitment agent in Mumbai while she was working as a cook in Qatar. However, the agent tricked her and trafficked her to Karachi.

Then she was taken to Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh province and was locked up for three months. Soon after her release, she married a Pakistani widower with a son.

Hamidi's Pakistani husband had shifted from Hyderabad to the neighbourhood in Karachi 14 years ago. However, he passed away three years back.

Reunited By Pakistan's Waliullah Maroof

Maroof said, "I knew there was a problem with this lady because she always looked worried. When she told me her story, I decided to help her by posting her video and story on YouTube, from where luckily, the Indian journalist named Khalfan Shaikh saw it and contacted me."

Previously also, he used his social media accounts to help women find their families. These women were trafficked to Pakistan from nearby countries such as Bangladesh. He said just like Hamidi, these women are illiterate and financially poor, making it difficult for them to find a job in Pakistan.

He said, "They just accept their fate and live their lives, but Ms Hamidi wanted to reunite with her family. She also remembered her Mumbai address and the name of her children, and when we arranged the video call with her daughter Yasmin Sheikh, it was a very emotional moment for all of us."

Lost All Contact With Family

While living in Qatar and Riyadh, Hamidi used to call her family on a regular basis. However, after 2002 when the agent duped her after she paid Rs 20,000, she lost all contact with her family as she was trapped in a room and had no money.

Yasmin, her daughter, said that while her mother lived abroad, she would call them regularly. In 2002, the family waited for months for a call after Hamidi left home and, in the end, approached the agent who had organised the trip.

Yasmin said the agent told them their mother was well and didn't want to speak with them. However, the family kept returning to questions about their mother, and suddenly, the agent vanished.

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