French woman allegedly held captive by husband for a decade issues heartbreaking statement as she is finally rescued

A French woman and her five children have been rescued from their husband’s home in Bara, Pakistan following allegations of a decade of abuse.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have arrested a man who allegedly held Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and her children captive at his home.

Local police told BBC Urdu that Yasmina, a French national, claimed that her ‘very violent’ husband assaulted her and her kids ‘on a daily basis’.

Yasmina claims her husband ‘effectively imprisoned’ her since she moved to Pakistan from Australia in 2014.

After one of her sons filed a report with police, the home was raided and the family were discovered in an ‘extremely dilapidated room’ with bruises across their bodies.

"According to the woman... She was not allowed to meet anyone, their two older children had missed their studies, while the three younger children were born in Pakistan and never enrolled in school," a senior police officer told the outlet.

(Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police)

Yasmina said in a statement released by police: "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 beat us and put pressure on our lives on a daily basis.

"I felt that my future was already ruined, the future of the children would also be ruined."

Yasmina and her children are now living in a women's shelter in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, about 70 percent of women in Pakistan have experienced domestic violence.

(Camille Delbos/Art In All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reports that one in three women experiences at least one form of domestic abuse during her lifetime.

Women living in poverty are more vulnerable to domestic violence, especially when they lack education and financial independence.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.