SA woman captive in Pakistan for 2 years

2012-02-14 22:36

Johannesburg - A South African woman and her two children have been rescued from Pakistan where she was allegedly held captive by her abusive husband for nearly two years, police said on Tuesday.

Colonel Vishnu Naidoo said 37-year-old Sajida Sungey asked for help in a telephone call to an SA Police Service liaison officer at the South African High Commission in Islamabad two weeks ago.

She claimed she had been abused and was being held captive by her husband and his family in Pakistan.

Naidoo said Pakistani authorities traced Sungey through the phone call and rescued her and the children.

"She and her daughter are alleged to have been 'abused and not allowed' to return to South Africa," Naidoo said in a statement.

Sungey's family in South Africa had contacted the charitable organisation Gift of the Givers for help in finding her.

Extremely traumatised

"Sajida is on a flight to South Africa today [Tuesday], paid for by Gift of the Givers to 'rescue' her and the two children," Gift of the Givers spokesperson Imtiaz Sooliman said in a statement.

He said Sungey married the Pakistani man and moved to Pakistan after the birth of their son in 2010. Her daughter is 11-years-old.

Sooliman said the man claimed to have denied Sungey contact with her family and the outside world in order to "culturise" her.

He said it still was not clear how Sungey managed to make the call and said details around the case were still sketchy.

Sooliman said Sungey was extremely traumatised. He would speak to her only after she had been assessed by a trauma counsellor.

Naidoo said Sungey had not filed any charges against the man and he had not been arrested.

Sungey and both the children boarded a flight from Pakistan to Cape-Town on Tuesday.

- SAPA