The National Police has released a woman who was going to be forced by her parents to marry a stranger in Pakistan and has arrested her father and stepmother as alleged perpetrators of human trafficking for the purpose of forced marriage.
The investigation has had the collaboration of the Interior Attaché and the Consul in Pakistan, explains a note from the National Police.
The victim was taken to Pakistan for the forced marriage and after refusing, she was prohibited from returning to Spain as punishment.
In Spain he suffered strict control over his movements and clothing and was even banned from any contact with his friends.
The investigation began in September 2023 when a report of this situation was received and in which they reported that a young woman had been transferred to her country of origin in June to contract a forced marriage.
Since then, and after refusing to marry, she had remained in Pakistan against her will and could only leave the house for an hour and always accompanied by a family member.
The agents’ investigations allowed the victim to be located in his country and to be heard in a statement by videoconference.
The young woman stated that she lived in Spain with her father and stepmother and that they did not allow her to move freely or make basic decisions.
After getting them to let her study, she was not allowed to interact with anyone, having to go from home to school and vice versa. She was also forced to dress in a certain way, not even being able to choose her own clothes and her stepmother had withheld her documentation.
She also reported that in the last year her situation worsened, since her father had decided that she had to get married, increasing his control over her and finally buying her a plane ticket to Pakistan for the marriage to take place.
A month after arriving in the country, her father had found another man to marry her, but the victim flatly refused.
Given her constant refusal, her father and stepmother finally decided to return to Spain, although they forbade the young woman from returning with them, leaving her in Pakistan without her documentation and without money for a return ticket as a form of punishment.
The victim’s situation in Pakistan was getting worse, as she was monitored 24 hours a day.
Finally, with the collaboration of the Interior Attaché in Pakistan and the Consul of Spain in that country, the victim was freed, who after returning to Spain and following police investigations was taken in by an NGO specialized in human trafficking.
The investigation led to the arrest of the victim’s father and stepmother, who, after being placed at the disposal of the judicial authority, were issued protection orders to prevent them from approaching or contacting the victim.
