Thread by @NafeesRehmanDr

I was a helpless witness to a sad affair of a 'call-girl'. The incident happened opposite to Charsi Tikka about 15 years ago, almost the place that you mentioned.

I think it was the month of May, when I got caught in a situation that I can't forget till this day.

https://twitter.com/NaPoha_/status/1105089883289337857

After having dinner with friends at Charsi Tikka, I crossed the road to take a bus to Saddar. It was past 11pm, there was some occasional traffic on the road.

While I was waiting there for the bus, I heard some dim noise - of someone talking rather arguing but in low volume.

I could tell that the argument was between a man and a woman, but I couldn't see them. It wasn't even that dark, the street lights were switched on and with the passing traffic there were splash of lights but I couldn't see them, at least not from where I was standing.

Anyone familiar with the place would know that there used to be green belt with plants, flowers, and trees between the road and the boundary wall of Islamia college. I moved around the bush and there I saw a girl of hardly 10 years of age, holding a Thermos and some clothes in

plastic bag. Next to her was a woman and a man. They were arguing with each other, and the man was threatening her with all sorts of things.

When they saw me walking up to them, they paused and looked at me in confusion. I asked what was going on to which the man replied

that I should mind my own business and leave them alone. However, the woman started to cry and and asked me to help her.

The man got really crossed at the woman's plea for help, and told me angrily to go away and that I should not interfere in their matter. I told him that I

wouldn't go away unless they tell me what was happening. The man told me that the woman was his wife and the young girl was their daughter and that they came to the hospital and that this argument was entirely their private matter, which I shouldn't been intervening into.

The woman, who appeared weak and tired, asked me again while crying that I should not go away and I should stay and help her. The man started to push me away but his condition didn't allow him to exert any force or something. He appeared to be high on some drug. I told the woman

to explain to me the situation and that she shouldn't worry about the man.

She said that they are a married couple and that the girl is their daughter. However, the man has forced her into prostitution and that she was sick and tired of all this and wanted to go back to her

parents and brothers who are unaware of all this situation. I told her that I am going to call police from the Town Police station but she said the Police wouldn't help her, instead she would be forced to sleep with them. I was shocked at her answer! She then said that it has

happened to her already and calling the police wouldn't make any difference rather would complicate things for her.
Anyone who knows Peshawar, would know that many poor homeless people sleep on the sidewalks and on the road-divider in the town area. That woman told me that her

husband forced her to sleep with these homeless people behind bushes for Rs. 50 (half a US Dollar). And that her health has worsened and she couldn't bear it anymore.

I then asked her how could I help. To which she gave me a land line phone number of her parent's neighbor,

somewhere in Dir. I dialed the number multiple times but they wouldn't answer. I didn't know what to do in that situation. I asked her if she and her daughter would go with me to my home and I would send them to her parents in safety by bus in the morning. She refused to go with

me. I asked her again what could be done to help her out of the situation. She said that no one could really help except for her parents and brothers. She said if her family came to know of her situation, they would kill the man -- her husband. All she wanted was to somehow

convey her message to her family in Dir and then they would take care of everything for her.

So I dialed again the number, and again no one answered. Now it was getting quite late and situation was all the same as it was before. I asked her again that I can take her home where

she would be safe but she refused. Then she asked me if I can give her some money that she could go by bus on her own. She bursted crying again and said that her husband kept all the money himself and didn't give any to her as he knew she would buy a ticket and would run away.

I gave her an amount that she asked for. I wanted to leave but she asked if I could dial the number again to her parents one last time. I tried again, and no one answered. I could tell the sheer disappointment by her looks when our last phone call went unanswered. She asked me

if I can call them tomorrow early in the morning before her brothers leave for work. I promised to do so and left her on the mercy of the same shitty man.

To cut it short, next morning I dialled the number again and it was answered. I was so happy that they finally answered

my phone. I asked if they could call the woman's family and they put me on hold and there came the woman's brother. Now at this point, I got so nervous as how should I narrate this horrific tale to the brother of that poor woman. With quite some difficulty, I asked if his mother

was around and if I could speak to her. I thought mothers are easier to talk to and to explain the situation. He said that her mother & father both were there standing next to him but I should speak to him.

Well, then I had to tell him --to a brother that her sister was forced

into prostitution by her own husband. Quite a difficult thing to do but had to be done, so I told him all about the last night's incident and the ordeal her sister was going through. He listened to all what I had to say. And when I was done, he asked me if I had anything else to

tell them, I said that it was all I wanted to tell on behalf of his sister. Then he said something that boiled my blood! He told me that I should not have interfered in this matter in the first place and that I have offended him with this phone call. He told me not to call them

again and hanged up his phone.

His response left me shocked, clueless, and helpless. I didn't expect such an answer. I thought the moment I would tell him his Ghairat would erupt in anger & he would turn the world upside down.

The poor woman had pinned all her hope on her parents and brothers. Little did she knew that they, too, had dumped her forever. She was forgotten as soon as she was married.

I don't know if she was sold into marriage because of poverty, or because of the custom of Walwar.

You can decide for yourself now if she would be referred to as a call-girl or prostitute. I am fully convinced that she wasn't one but she was trapped by pimps who posed as her family, she was given up by the state, law, police, and she was exploited by men of all sorts.

I'm sorry for making you upset with this story. For me it is a very bad memory but for that woman it was her & her daughter's life. Her story needed to be told.

I plan to write two more threads on this subject, so my apologies in advance if you feel uncomfortable reading them.