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ICJ's Verdict On Kulbhushan Jadhav Has Given Hope To Parents Of Mumbai Man Languishing In Peshawar Prison

A love story gone terribly wrong.
Facebook/Shameem Chaudhary

After the verdict by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, parents of another Indian national, languishing in a Pakistan jail for more than four years, have come forward to ask if Pakistan will free their son.

"I had met Sushma Swarajji earlier this year, and she said that she was treating Hamid's case as priority. I obviously understand that Kulbhushan is a death row convict, and the immediacy in his case is much more. But now, after the international court's verdict, I'm certain that authorities will help us too. Of course, they will help us. Why won't they?," Fauzia Ansari, the mother of Hamid Ansari, was quoted by Firstpost as saying.

Reports suggest that Hamid, a 31-year-old engineer from Mumbai, had left home in 2012, telling his parents that he had found a job in Afghanistan. He told them that he landed in Kabul, after which they lost contact with him.

The Indian Express had reported a year ago that the family later found, through officials and associated that Ansari was in love with a woman from the Kohat region of western Pakistan. The police had said that he was convinced by his friend that he could gain entry in the country from Afghanistan.

And after three years of desperately looking for her son, Fauzia realised he had been arrested in Pakistan and had been convicted for espionage. He is in a prison in Peshawar.

India Today had reported that the Peshawar High Court had granted Ansari visitation rights, but was convicted for three years.

However, after completion of his three year sentence in prison, Fauzia has still not been able to meet her son.

An emotional and teary eyed Fauzia told Firstpost that they had applied for a Pakistan visa 30 to 35 times but their application was rejected. She said that the high court dismissed their petition that had argued that their son had already served three years in military custody saying that they did not have jurisdiction over military courts.

Scroll.in reports that while even the Government of India has approached Pakistan over the matter several times, they have not gotten a response. Hamid's parents have found a lawyer in Islamabad to file a case in Pakistan's Supreme Court.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.