Mumbai engineer Nehal Hamid Ansari, 'missing' for 3 year, is on trial in Pakistan
In November 2012, Nehal Hamid Ansari left home claiming he was going to Afghanistan for a job and then went missing. This week, the young Mumbai engineer's family found out that he is alive and being tried by the Pakistan army.
Nehal's mother Fauzia Ansari is relieved, but her heart aches for her "daughter" - a Pakistani journalist who had been investigating Nehal's disappearance. Zeenat Sehzadi has been missing since August, which has added a new twist to the mysterious developments.
"I feel happy today... but I would be happier if I knew that she too has been reunited with her mother," Fauzia Ansari told NDTV, her voice breaking.
The family realized two days ago that Nehal was being tried by Pakistan's army.
"I am relieved that he is alive and well," his mother said.
Nehal had befriended a woman in Pakistan's Kohat region on social media and had decided to meet her. He allegedly crossed over to Pakistan from Afghanistan and was arrested from a hotel room in Kohat by intelligence agencies.
On Thursday, Pakistan's defence ministry confirmed in court that Nehal was being held by the army and would be tried by a military court.
The case was heard for over 18 months before the government admitted that Nehal was being held in the country.
Nehal's parents have complained in court in Pakistan that they were never informed where he was. After he went missing, his mother filed a complaint in Mumbai and also contacted the Afghan consulate. She later sent an application to the human rights cell of the Supreme Court in Islamabad.