NEW YORK: Gulalai Ismail, a prominent Pakistani women activist accused of treason for her alleged anti-state activities, has escaped to the US where she has applied for political asylum, according to a media report. Her name was recommended to be put on the Exit Control List by Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) after she revealed various details regarding how Pak army tortured and trafficked women as slaves. Ismail, escaped Pakistan last month and is currently residing with her sister in Brooklyn, reports said.

Ismail, who remained fugitive since late May this year, has not disclosed how she managed to leave the country. It was Ismail who established the 'Aware Girls' NGO at the age of sixteen. She began to receive threats from Pak authorities ever since she began fighting against the army's human right violations and atrocities towards women in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. According to her, hundreds of women belonging to the Pashtun group are being subjected to sexual harassment every day by the Pak army.

In November last year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was informed that the ISI had recommended putting Ismail's name on the ECL for her alleged anti-state activities abroad. Following a petition by Ismail challenging the government's decision to put her name on the ECL, the IHC ordered the removal of her name from the no-fly list. The court, however, had allowed the interior ministry to take appropriate action, including confiscation of her passport, in the light of recommendations made by ISI, the report said.

It is believed that Ismail reached the USA via Sri Lanka, Ismail is worried about her parents in Islamabad "who face charges of financing terrorism and remain under heavy surveillance". She has reportedly met with various "human rights defenders" in the US and staffs of congressional leaders and garnered support for herself.

Ismail has launched a research and advocacy group called Voices for Peace and Democracy aimed at protecting women in the conflict-hit zones of the world.