Indian woman in Pakistan finds her family again after 40 years

If it was a Bollywood drama, the story of Munni would have been a tearjerker. However, for this Karachi-based woman in her 50s, it’s her life.

Munni, who was smuggled to Pakistan from an Indian village, finally found her family back after 40 years and wants to meet them.

Reports in Indian and Pakistani media said the woman was allegedly taken to Delhi from her village in Uttar Pradesh by her uncle in 1981, when she was 16 years old. He sold her to somebody in Delhi and later she was taken to Haryana. From there, she was trafficked to Pakistan.

In Karachi, Munni was rescued by a man named Sajjad, who later married her. After marriage, she changed her name to Bushra.

“I am happy now. I have four children. But I always wanted to meet my family — my father, brothers, and sisters. I do not how, but I remember about our locality and the people staying around our house,” India’s The Pioneer quoted her.

Her brother Akram recognised her after watching a viral video on December 20. It was about a middle-aged woman from Karachi looking for her relatives in Sambhal’s Saraitareen village.

The video was shared in a community WhatsApp group and a local journalist took it to him.

“I was shocked. I could not recognise my sister initially, but the way she described the village and our family there was no doubt that she was my eldest sister,” Akram told The Pioneer.

Now, they talk on phone for hours and are eager to meet each other. “I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue a visa for my sister so she can come to India visit us,” Akram said.

• India
• Pakistan