A French woman who alleges she was held captive by her husband for nearly 12 years in Pakistan has been rescued along with her five children, in a case that has drawn international attention after images of the family following the rescue went viral on social media.According to police, 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina and her children were rescued from a house in Bara, a remote town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after one of her sons managed to escape and report the family’s situation to authorities.Police said they found Yasmina and her children in a cramped and “extremely dilapidated” room, with bruises on their bodies. The family has since been moved to a women’s shelter in Peshawar and plans to return to France.The woman’s husband, a Pakistani national whose identity has not been disclosed by authorities, has been arrested. Police said the allegations remain under investigation.According to BBC Urdu, Yasmina told investigators that what began as a marriage eventually turned into years of isolation, abuse and confinement. She alleged that after moving from Australia to Pakistan in 2014, her husband effectively imprisoned the family, preventing them from interacting with the outside world.Police quoted Yasmina as saying she was not allowed to meet anyone and that the family’s two older children were forced to discontinue their education. The three younger children, who were born in Pakistan, were reportedly never enrolled in school.”We were deprived of our freedom. My husband didn’t take care of us the way he should as a husband and the father of my children. He beats us and put pressure on our lives on a daily basis,” Yasmina said in a statement to police, portions of which were published by local media.”I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined,” she added.Authorities said Yasmina married the Pakistani national in Australia in 2003. Police claim the man was residing illegally in Australia when the couple met. The family lived there until 2014 before relocating to Pakistan with their two eldest children.The alleged abuse came to light only after one of the couple’s sons escaped from the house and sought help from police, leading to a raid that freed the family.A French woman and her five children have been rescued in Pakistan after she allegedly spent more than 12 years in captivity at the hands of her husbandSylvie Yasmina (54) told police the family moved from Australia to Pakistan in 2014, after which she and her children were… pic.twitter.com/VVoeuvT1MT— Nabila Jamal (@nabilajamal_) June 24, 2026