Trafficked from Bangladesh 35 years ago, woman moves Lahore HC after being offloaded from Dhaka flight

An elderly woman who claims she was born in Bangladesh and trafficked to Pakistan over three decades ago has moved the Lahore High Court, challenging the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) decision to offload her from a Dhaka-bound flight.

Razia Bibi, 58, filed a petition through her counsel, Ali Changezi Sandhu, seeking legal action against the FIA and the imposition of a fine on the agency for allegedly removing her from the flight without lawful justification, reports Dawn.

According to the petition, Razia was allegedly kidnapped in Bangladesh and brought to Pakistan around 35 years ago, where she was sold in Karachi. Her counsel stated that she was subsequently forced into marriage with the man who had purchased her and later relocated to Kasur.

The petitioner, now a Pakistani citizen, recently reconnected with her family in Bangladesh through social media, the plea states. Her elderly mother reportedly expressed a desire to see her "one last time".

The counsel said that on 27 February last year, Razia arrived at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport to board a flight to Dhaka. However, immigration officials of the FIA allegedly offloaded her without providing any explanation.

Following the incident, the petitioner submitted an application to the Ministry of Interior seeking action against what she termed the FIA's "unlawful" conduct, but has yet to receive any response, the petition said.

Her lawyer argued that thousands of Pakistanis have allegedly fallen victim to "FIA's unlawful offloading" based on suspicion and assumptions relating to illegal travel and human trafficking.

He contended that offloading an elderly woman without citing any specific reason reflected arbitrary exercise of authority and sought court directives for the FIA to compensate the petitioner for expenses incurred on her air ticket and visa.