Pakistan Gender News Voice of Gender News From Pakistan
Mohammad Asghar
RAWALPINDI: Police and intelligence agencies are trying to trace the relatives of a Tanzanian woman of Pakistan origin who has been languishing in Adiala Jail for the last two years.
A source close to the investigation said they wanted to hand over the woman to their relatives or deport her. However, he added, the Tanzanian embassy did not respond to the queries about the woman.
A joint investigation team, comprising officials of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Punjab Home Department recently investigated the woman who had been arrested in D.G. Khan under the foreign act.
Rohila Farooq, aged between 50 and 55, who speaks English well, remained in the custody of ISI before being shifted to the jail.
According to the source, she had visited Karachi, Afghanistan and Tanzania in the past. She held a Pakistani national identity card with the address of Karachi but it turned out to be bogus during verification.
Though the woman had documents proving her Tanzanian nationality, her embassy did not respond to the authorities’ queries whether she was to be deported to Tanzania or handed over to her relatives if they were in Pakistan.
During investigation in the jail, she responded to every question but kept mum about the treatment she was subjected to during her detention by intelligence officials.
