Love was a big mistake!

• Girl kidnapped from Data Darbar, sold thrice and raped for twelve years, comes back home…

“I am from Mandi Bahauddin. I met Adnan at a wedding in Lahore 18 years ago. He was a charming guy and during the few days I spent in the city, our relationship transcended beyond the boundaries of friendship and we fell in love. And this is where it all started,” narrates Shumaila (pseudo name) who reached home after 12 years of being raped.

She wanted to marry Adnan but her father would not approve of their marriage. Her father was adamant at getting her married to someone else in their cast.

Maddened by the need to meet Adnan, she made a plan with her lover and fled to Lahore on August 29, 1995. Adnan was supposed to receive her outside the Data Darbar in the city. Adnan had promised to marry her upon her arrival in the city.

She kept waiting for Adnan outside the Darbar but he did not show up. She sat there dejected, puzzled by endless questions regarding what to do next.

As she wept outside the Data Darbar, a woman approached her and inquired about the matter. “What be the matter poor child? Why so sad?,” the woman asked. With eyes teeming with tears, Shumaila narrated her story.

“Do not worry. I am like your mother. I am here and everything will be alright. You look hungry. Let me get you some food first,” the woman comforted her and left to get some food.

Praising the Almighty for the help He had sent in the guise of the woman, 22-year-old Shumaila ate to her fill and dozed off in the woman’s arm.

As she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a slap on her face as she found herself tied up in a small room.

As she regained consciousness, she realised that she had been kidnapped; the woman had drugged her. The woman, whom she identifies as Rubab, was in the same room with a few other girls and three men.

“We want you to cooperate with us. God knows ill knock your brains out if you tried to act smart,” one of the men slapped Shumaila and threatened her on gun point.

Shumaila kept crying and asking for mercy to which the men responded with more torture. Tired of Shumaila’s cries, one of the men injected her with a sedative.

Shumaila narrates that when she regained consciousness, she was in a car with Rubab and other men and a milestone from outside the car’s window told her that she was approaching Hydrabad.

“I was petrified to the core. I kept cursing Adnan for not showing up at the Darbar and prayed to Almighty for help. I kept wondering what had I done to deserve this treatment?,” Shumaila narrates her story.

It was late night and they were at a desert-like place. The car had stopped near Noriabad. Rubab and the other two men, Zahid and Ashraf, pushed Shumaila out of the car. In a semi-conscious state she fell on the ground. As she raised her head, she saw four men who were lustfully examining her.

A man raised his voice, “How much for the one with long hair?” The man had referred to Shumaila.

“Not a penny less than Rs 60,000,” Zahid replied. The man agreed and she was sold.

Rubab whispered in her ear, “Look Shumaila, our work here is done. We were only supposed to transport you out of Punjab. These men are influential and they have paid a good amount of money for you. You are beautiful. If you serve them well, you will be treated well, else they will burn you alive. So, if you want to live, cooperate with them.”

The men transported Shumaila to an isolated place where she was further sold for Rs 150,000 to an old man Ayub who forcefully married her.

“Ayub with his friends raped me for four years. I made several attempts to break free but to no avail. Every time I was caught escaping, I was tortured for days. There was no way out…” Shumaila told Pakistan Today.

One day, the old man came home injured. He had suffered an encounter with his enemies. He was bedridden.

During Ayub’s ailment, his cousin started to hit on Shumaila. He was a tall young man who started wooing her to leave the old man and gratify him instead.

“This is not Punjab. No one will save you. We run the show here. If you want a comfortable life, you better do as I say,” the young man Dilawar threatened Shumaila.

It was a matter of days that Ayub died. Shumaila was then forcefully taken by Dilawar who took her to his mansion. She was given clothes and food in return for which she had to gratify Dilawar and his friends. Dilawar’s men made sure that the girl did not escape. Shumaila spent seven horrifying years on Dilawar’s bed.

During her confinement, one of Dilawar’s guards Majeed developed a soft corner for her. He wanted her to break free and Shumaila too started to confide in him.

On one fine day, Majeed came up with a plan for Shumaila to escape. He said, “I will be alone on duty tonight. Other guards will be out with Dilawar and his friends for hunting. You can escape by 10pm tonight.”

Shumaila jumped with joy after hearing the news of her freedom.

As per the plan, Majeed transported Shumaila to Hyderabad Railway Station around midnight and gave her Rs 2,500 with a ticket to Lahore. Shumail thanked Majeed and escaped.

“I kept on thanking Allah for freeing me from a filthy life as I cried in the train that brought me to Lahore. Although I was thankful for an escape but I did not know what should I do next. I wanted to go home but was not sure if my family would accept me. After all those years with those men I felt disgusted. I had lost my dignity and pride. I was not more than a shadow of the woman I was,” Shumaila narrates.

However, she faced her fears and decided to meet his parents in Mandi Bahuddin.

She took the bus to his hometown and reached his house only to find out that his parents had passed away.

She met his two brothers and four sisters and narrated her entire story. Her siblings embraced her but wanted her to get married as soon as possible.

The 22-year-old dreamy-eyed girl, who had left his home in the name of love, was now a 34-year-old woman who had experienced everything but love.

“My brother told me one day that he was getting married to man who would take good care of me and I will live a happy life. But I did not want to marry. The very thought of sleeping with a man haunted me. I had started to loathe my existence. But then I thought that probably it was time to listen to my family members. And I married that guy,” said Shumaila as her voice cracked and faded into silence.

Shumaila currently works as a maid at various houses and together with her husband, who is a daily wager, lives in the city.