External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday reacted to the reports of Mumbai resident Hamir Ansari's assault at the hands of fellow inmates in a Peshawar jail, reported Hindustan Times. "I have asked our High Commissioner in Pakistan to seek Consular access to Hamid Ansari in hospital/jail and report," Swaraj said.

Ansari was arrested in 2012 for entering Pakistan illegally through Afghanistan to meet someone he befriended online. The 31-year-old was sentenced to three years in prison by a local court. This was reportedly the third time Ansari was attacked in the prison in the past few months. His lawyer has informed the Peshawar High Court of the incidents, and the bench was also told that Ansari was kept in a cell with a hardened criminal on death row.

Reacting to the news, his family urged the government to take steps to ensure his safe return. His mother, Fauzia Ansari, said, "Our request to the Indian government is to help Hamid, who has not committed any heinous crime. His mistake was to go there with fake documents and he has already suffered a lot for this."