High court orders inquiry into woman missing after airport offload
Farhana Rafiq, 61, was stopped at the immigration counter before Turkish Airlines flight TK 711 and has not been traced since her phone went off.
The Islamabad High Court has ordered the police to investigate the disappearance of Farhana Rafiq, a 61-year-old Pakistani-American woman who was taken off a flight at Islamabad airport and has not been traced since the morning of 5 November.
Justice Shah Rukh Arjumand sought reports from the Federal Investigation Agency and the police on a recovery petition filed by barrister Muhammad Ali Abbas Raja, Express News reported.
The petitioner told the court that Rafiq lives alone in Islamabad and that her husband and other relatives are based abroad. She was booked on Turkish Airlines flight TK 711, which was to carry her from Islamabad to Washington DC via Istanbul on 5 November. She reached the airport at about 3am and was stopped at the immigration counter.
No reason for stopping her was given, the court was told, and no order or legal document was produced. Rafiq was not told whether her name appeared on a travel ban list or whether any case was pending against her.
Her flight left without her, but she was not allowed to leave the airport or go home, according to the petition. No arrest warrant was shown to her, she was not told why she was being held and she was not produced before a magistrate.
Her mobile phone has been switched off since about 11am on 5 November and her family has been unable to reach her. The petition says there is a fear that she has been moved to an unknown place and is being held there unlawfully.
FIA officials said immigration staff had offloaded her because of a travel restriction and that she was sent back after being taken off the flight. The officials said they did not know where she went.
Justice Arjumand directed the police to conduct an inquiry and present a report to the court.
The petition seeks her recovery and asks the FIA and the police to explain the grounds on which she was stopped.
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