Hamida Bano, an Indian woman, returned to India on Monday after living in Pakistan for 22 years. In 2002, a travel agent tricked her into believing she was being taken to Dubai for a job, but instead, she was trafficked to Hyderabad in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Hamida, originally from Mumbai, crossed the Wagah Border to reunite with her homeland.

Maroof, a 29-year-old imam from Karachi’s Manghopir, learned about Hamida’s story through social media. Determined to help, he began searching for her family. On Monday afternoon, Hamida was finally reunited with her children and family near the Wagah border, after more than 20 years apart.

Since 2018, Maroof has dedicated himself to helping victims of human trafficking return to their countries. Inspired by his mother, he has helped nearly 100 people reunite with their families, including a Bangladeshi woman.
Bano shared her joy at being reunited with her family, saying she had lost hope of ever returning to India, but felt fortunate to see this day.

In a conversation with Maroof, Hamida Bano shared that before coming to Pakistan, she had been financially supporting her four children in India after her husband's death. She had worked as a cook in Doha, Qatar, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia without any issues.

During her 22 years in Pakistan, Bano married a Pakistani man from Karachi, who later died from Covid-19. Since then, she has been living with her stepson. Maroof shared that Hamida Bano told him she was trafficked with five other women. Three were young and sold by the traffickers, while Hamida, being older, was left behind in a hut when the traffickers fled.

Maroof also found another woman, Shahnaz, originally from Bangalore, living in Karachi’s Pak Colony. He managed to contact Shahnaz’s family and speak to her daughters. However, proving her Indian citizenship is a challenge because her children were too young to have documents when she was trafficked. Despite this, Maroof is determined to help Shahnaz return to India.