Pakistani woman returns home after spending four years in Indian prison

Pakistani woman Sameera Abdul Rahman (3rd from R) stands with Indian officials upon her release from Indian jail on March 27, 2022. (Photo courtesy: local media)
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Updated 27 March 2022
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Pakistani woman returns home after spending four years in Indian prison

  • Sameera Abdul Rahman married an Indian national in Qatar before traveling to India without a visa
  • Rahman gave birth to a daughter in prison who also accompanied her mother to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani woman who spent four years in an Indian prison after traveling to that country without a visa has returned to her homeland after getting assistance from Pakistani authorities, reported the local media on Sunday.

Karachi-born Sameera Abdul Rahman was living in Qatar where she met an Indian man whom she married against the wishes of her family. Her husband brought her to India without a visa in 2016, for which both of them were imprisoned.

Rahman also gave birth to a daughter in prison in 2017 who also accompanied her mother to Pakistan.

Last month, the Pakistani interior ministry said it had issued a citizenship certificate to her after the country's diplomatic mission in India held a meeting with her to confirm her nationality.

"Indian authorities handed over Sameera Rahman and her daughter Sana Fatima to Pakistani authorities at the Wagha border," The News reported, adding she was accompanied by officials of the Pakistan High Commission.

The newspaper said it would take another four days for her to fulfil "all the legal requirements and to complete immigration processes."

Rahman was released from Indian jail and kept in a custodial center after she paid a fine of million rupees to the Indian authorities.

A Pakistani senator, Irfran Siddiqui, who was following her case and first took it up in parliament, told the newspaper that no one from the woman's family was there to receive her at the Wagha border.


Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling

Updated 14 December 2025
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Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling

  • Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
  • Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network. 

The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia. 

Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said. 

“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said. 

The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone. 

It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.

“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said. 

“Further investigation is underway.”

Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean. 

Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.

Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.