A YouTube video, posted by a mosque imam in Karachi, accomplished what seemed impossible: bridging a 22-year void between a mother and her children, crossing the fraught borders between India and Pakistan, and bringing Hamida Banu home.
Twenty-two years ago, Hamida Banu left her home in Kurla, Mumbai, with dreams of a better future. A travel agent promised her a job as a cook in Dubai, where she hoped to earn enough to buy a house and marry off her children. But her dreams were shattered when human traffickers led her to Hyderabad, Pakistan, under the false promise of sending her to Dubai.
And then a Pakistani YouTuber came into her life and got her back to home in India.
“I was not literate and had no breadwinner. I dreamed of a better life for my children, but I suffered a lot,” said Banu, now 75. She reunited with her family on December 16, 2024. Overwhelmed by media attention, Banu now avoids interviews, as her family worries that reliving the ordeal might affect her health.
Banu’s return was made possible when Waliullah Maroof, a Karachi-based YouTuber and imam, highlighted her story in August 2022.
The YouTuber’s Mission
Maroof, who lives in Karachi’s Manghopir locality, had known Banu since childhood as she lived in his neighborhood. He started working to reunite trafficking victims with their families in 2018. His first success was reuniting Zahida, a Bangladeshi woman, with her family 30 years after she was trafficked to Pakistan.
"I had started work of reuniting the victim women of human trafficking with their families since 2018," says Waliullah Maroof, whose channel has grown to 22,000 subscribers by documenting stories of separated families.
What began with helping a trafficked Bangladeshi woman find her way home has evolved into a mission that has reunited over 170 families – but none quite as challenging as Banu's case.
Inspired by this success, when Banu approached Maroof for help, he posted a video on July 31, 2022, titled "Missing Mumbai Woman in Pakistan || for 20 Years || we are searching for her family." In the video, Banu shared the details of her former life: her home in Quresh Nagar, Kurla; her parents Gul Mohammed and Amina Begum; her four children – Yusuf, Fazal, Yasmeen, and Parveen.
The video's journey to Mumbai followed an unlikely path. A Karachi youth searching "Mumbai news" on Facebook found Khalfan Shaikh, administrator of the Hashtag Mumbai News page. Shaikh, a journalist, mobilised his network. "I have 600 WhatsApp groups," he said. "We circulated a message along with Banu's photo. A few days later, her relative called me. They recognised her."
On August 1, 2022, Banu spoke to her family for the first time via video call when the Mumbai journalist reached their home. “Dear, don’t ask me how I survived all these years. I’m so thankful to Maroof for helping me see you again,” she told Yasmeen, her daughter.
The process to bring her home was lengthy, requiring verification of her citizenship and interviews by the Indian Embassy in Pakistan. Finally, the authorities granted her a visa.
Banu’s Journey
Behind this digital reunion lies a story of desperation and survival. In 2002, Banu was a widow struggling to support her family. She had worked legitimately in Gulf countries before – nine years in Doha, six months in Dubai, three months in Saudi Arabia – earning enough to arrange marriages for her two daughters. But when a travel agent promised her a cooking job in Dubai for Rs. 20,000, the offer turned into a trap.
Instead of Dubai, Banu and five other women were smuggled into Pakistan through a secret airport exit. "Some of those women were just 18 or 20 years old," she remembers. "I don't know where they were taken." After three months captive in Hyderabad, Pakistan, Banu escaped to Manghophir, where she found shelter in a local dargah (Muslim shrine).
Life forced her to adapt. She married Haneef, a widowed vegetable vendor who offered her stability until his death from COVID-19 in 2020. His son Azad, a bicycle mechanic with four children, became her support. "He used to get work rarely," Banu says. "He used to take care of his children with its help. I was happy living with him."
Back in Mumbai, her daughter Yasmeen had searched desperately after her mother's disappearance, only to find the travel agent's house abandoned. "We were extremely happy. We cried a lot," Yasmeen says of finally seeing her mother's video. "We used to cry after seeing photos of our mother. Nevertheless, it took two and a half years to fulfill the formalities."
The Trafficking Crisis
Banu's story reflects a broader crisis. Between 2018 and 2022, India recorded approximately 11,000 trafficking cases. Gerard Mukhiya of Mumbai's Rescue Foundation explained, "Economic situations often force victims into desperate situations which can lead to them being exploited. Traffickers also prey on victims' lack of awareness or knowledge and manipulate them into following their words."
Debender Baral, founder of anti-trafficking NGO Bal Vikas Dhara in Delhi, pointed to systemic issues. "People from poor families and marginalized groups are lured to the city with promises of jobs. The people who bring these people are from the upper caste, higher class, and affluent background. Moreover, these people have collusion with law enforcers," Baral said.
Mukhiya noted that cross-border trafficking poses a bigger challenge in rescuing the victims of the traffickers as it involves multiple stake holders.
For Maroof, Banu's case proved particularly challenging given India-Pakistan relations. "People were saying India will not recognise and allow her to come back," he recalled. Some viewers dubbed him "Bajrangi Bhaijan," referencing the Bollywood film about reuniting a Pakistani girl with her family.
His YouTube comments overflow with gratitude from Indian viewers: "We have a lot of respect for you. Love from India," reads one. Another viewer wrote “Dear, we are extremely thankful to you from the bottom of our heart. You have done a service for the humanity by helping a mother to her separated children. With a lot of respect and honor, we again thank you from the whole India”.
The reunion finally happened on December 16, 2024, after extensive documentation proving Banu's citizenship and interviews with the Indian embassy in Pakistan. Her only wish now is to spend her remaining days with her family and, eventually, rest in her homeland's soil.
"This is my story," she said, "and this is my life."
Maroof continues his work, recently connecting a Pakistani father with his Indian daughter after 30 years of separation.
"Many things can be achieved through social media," he reflected. "In the previous decade when there were no social media sites, TV channels were the main medium. Now, everyone has their own channel. If someone has a smart phone, he/she can run his own channel,” the Pakistani YouTuber said.
