A woman from a border village in Kashmir, who crossed over after being badly beaten up by her brother, is stranded in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for the last four months.
Maryam Bibi of Karhama village walked to Pakistan after being beaten up by brother
ISLAMABAD: A woman from a border village in Kashmir, who crossed over after being badly beaten up by her brother, is stranded in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for the last four months. She desperately wants to return home, but the authorities here are not willing to help her and have instead put her behind bars.
Maryam Bibi, 28, of Karhama in Kashmir entered Tarban in the upper reaches of the picturesque Neelum valley in PoK in the dead of night nearly four months ago. She was sheltered by local politician Chaudhry Abdul Rashid, who soon alerted the authorities to avoid complications.
Maryam, who now regrets the journey across the border she undertook in a fit of anger, is often seen crying in her cell in the police station at Athmuqam, where she has been lodged for the past two weeks, and makes frequent passionate appeals to the station house officer and visitors for a reunion with family.
Athmuqam Police Station in-charge Khwaja Arshad Shafi said soon after arresting Maryam, they handed her over to a distant relative in a camp of Kashmiri refugees on the outskirts of PoK capital Muzaffarabad. However, a month later, the relative returned her to police fearing she may commit suicide.
Shafi said he had taken up Maryam’s case with PoK authorities and sought her repatriation, but they were reluctant.
Recalling the incidents leading to her crossover, Maryam told reporters she visited her brother to consult him on a family matter but he not only severely beat her up but also threatened to kill her. “I don’t know why and how I decided to cross the border without even letting my husband know of my decision,” she said.
Maryam cannot control her emotions when she talks of her sons, six-year-old Fayaz and two-and-a-half-year-old Shakir. She is more worried about Fayaz, who she said was physically disabled and “was gifted by God after many prayers”.
“I realise my repatriation is difficult. Indian troops will beat me up. I am scared. But I want to reunite with Fayaz and Shakir,” Maryam said, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
amir.mir1969@gmail.com
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