Iranian police have recovered a young Pakistani woman who was allegedly taken illegally to Iran and forcibly married by a Pakistani man.
The operation was carried out after the orphaned woman sent a video message through her family to Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, appealing for help.
In the video message, the woman said, “Governor sahib, please free me from the man who illegally married me. If you do not help me within two days, I will commit suicide.”
Saadia Kanwal, daughter of Muhammad Liaquat Rajput, is the mother of a one-year-old child and is also four months pregnant.
Following the immediate intervention of the Sindh Governor, coordination with Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iranian police recovered Saadia, who is currently in safe custody.
Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori informed the family that he has instructed Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Mudassir Tipu, to send Saadia to Karachi by air. The governor has also offered to bear all the expenses from his own pocket.
Saadia’s father passed away 16 years ago, while her mother died six years ago. She is the youngest among her siblings and was unable to continue her education due to financial constraints.
Saadia belonged to Nishtar Colony, Latifabad, Hyderabad. According to her brother, Muhammad Adil Rajput, Saadia went missing around two and a half years ago.
Muhammad Adil Rajput said, “On August 14, 2023, an unknown person contacted us from an Iranian number and claimed that he had married my sister.” He added that when they tried to contact the number again, it was switched off.
Before leaving home, Saadia was in contact with a local man from her area, whom the family suspected of kidnapping her.
Sources claimed that it was later discovered that the suspect handed her over to a woman who allegedly forced her to marry a man named Imran Bhatti.
The family made extensive efforts to trace the girl but failed, after which an FIR was registered at the local police station on September 18, 2023. However, she could not be recovered at that time.
According to an unverified copy of her birth certificate, Saadia Kanwal’s date of birth is March 25, 1994. She passed her matriculation examination in April 2010.
In the video message sent to the Sindh Governor, Saadia also claimed that she neither had a national identity card nor a passport.
According to an unverified copy of the nikahnama (marriage certificate), Saadia’s marriage was shown as having taken place with Muhammad Imran, son of Muhammad Sadiq, a resident of Ghotki district. Imran Bhatti’s date of birth was listed as July 16, 1986, with his address given as Al-Qutab Town, Daharki.
However, in the nikahnama, Saadia Kanwal’s name was recorded only as “Saadia,” while her father’s name and caste were changed to “Nazeer Ahmed Bhatti,” and her residence was shown as Rahim Yar Khan.
The marriage was conducted on September 10, 2023—about a month after Saadia had mysteriously left her home.
Eight months ago, Saadia made a brief call from an unknown number and shared her painful story with her family. According to her brother, whenever she found an opportunity afterward, she would contact them either using the phone of a kind neighbor or from a nearby shop.
Saadia said that she was living in extremely poor conditions in the city of Keshk-e-Nar in Iran’s Hormozgan province and urgently needed help.
Expressing regret, Muhammad Adil said, “We knocked on every door, but our pleas were not heard. With the help of a local MPA, we even approached Sindh Home Minister Zia Lanjar, but he also took no action.”
Eventually, Saadia directly appealed for help from Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori.
In her video message, holding her child in her arms, Saadia said, “Governor sahib, if you cannot help me, then please convey my message to the Army Chief (Chief of Defence Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir).”
