Abducted Manchester Girl Flies Home

28 December 2012, 14:16 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A six-year-old girl who was abducted by her dad and taken to Pakistan three years ago is due to be reunited with her mum in Greater Manchester on Friday night.

Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson vanished in November 2009 after going to stay with her dad, Razwan Ali Anjum.

The former insurance salesman said he was taking Atiya to Southport.

Instead he took her to Lahore, Pakistan, and told Gemma Wilkinson, Atiya's mum, that she was "never going to see Atiya again''.

Anjum is currently serving a prison sentence in the UK for refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts despite a court order.

But Greater Manchester Police confirmed that Atiya had been located in Pakistan and she is due to arrive back in the UK later.

It is understood that the youngster is returning to England on a Pakistan International Airlines flight from Islamabad and is due to arrive at Manchester Airport after 7pm.

Just last month Ms Wilkinson, 32, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, launched a fresh appeal for information on Atiya's whereabouts.

Anjum was handed a fourth consecutive jail term by a High Court judge in April after he refused to reveal where his daughter was.

Ms Wilkinson, a former charity worker, took legal action in an attempt to force Anjum to reveal the crucial details.