A Hindu woman school teacher, who was reported missing last month, has told a magistrate in this northwestern Pakistani city that her kidnapper tried to force her to convert her faith and marry him.
Sapna Rani, aged around 25, told Magistrate Mohammad Fayyaz Khan that her abductor kept her unconscious most of the time while she was in captivity, the Dawn daily reported today.
Khan directed police to conduct a medical examination of Rani and submit a report.
Rani was recovered from Khairpur area of Bahawalpur in Punjab province late on Saturday after police officer Shaheenullah Khan traced her through the cellphone of her alleged captor, Zahid Nawaz.
Nawaz is a resident of Bahawalpur.
Rani had gone missing on December 21 while returning home from her school in Paharipura area of Peshawar. She told the magistrate that a car stopped near her and she fell unconscious when a person put a cloth doused with an anaesthetic on her face.
She said when she gained consciousness a day later, she saw a man later identified as Zahid Nawaz present in the room. She said whenever she gained consciousness, Nawaz would demand that she should marry him after converting to Islam.
She said on her refusal, Nawaz would put an anaesthetic-doused cloth on her face.
Rani said as she was unconscious most of the time, she was unsure whether she was sexually assaulted.
Police had registered a case after a complaint was lodged by her cousin, Suresh Kumar.
The kidnapping had created unrest among the Hindu community in Peshawar and its leaders appealed to authorities to recover the teacher.
Police said they made special efforts to trace the woman as her family was poor and passing through a lot of distress.
