An Indian woman, who had spent 17  years in Pakistan against her will, boarded a plane to India on Friday, to reunite with her family in Andhra Pradesh.

Yellamilli Kejiamani came to Pakistan in 1990 with Riaz from Kuwait. “Riaz, a resident of Lahore, snatched everything she had and burnt her Indian passport. He tortured her before finally throwing her out of his house after six,” Rao Abid Hamid, an official of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.

The next 10 years were very hard for Kejiamani.

“I had lost my senses. Then I met Muhammad Amin, who gave me shelter. But soon my presence irked his wife” she said. Amin then took Kejiamani to his native village and arranged a marriage “on paper” with her, naming her Ayesha.

Her case finally reached the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which wrote to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on September 24.

Kejiamani’s was the first case, where a woman had contacted the authorities to seek help to go back home, the activists said.

The activists also pointed out that she would have to take steps to regain her Indian citizenship.