Slavery is a highly institutionalized part of one of the cities in my campaign. One of the players in this campaign is an escaped slave. She has escaped to a nearby town that is at odds with this city and then went on a quest further south. Escaped slaves is not uncommon and typically will be hunted within the territory of this city, but most slavers would cut their losses once the slave reaches the nearby town or is out to sea long enough. But for this particular slave, her former master is constantly sending bounty hunters to capture her, a more costly endeavor than replacement. So, why?
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Some possibilities:
She knows too much; she overheard something that she might not have realised was important, information that in the right hands would destroy him.
He's in love with her.
She's been selected as a sacrifice to his dark God.
She's his daughter.
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Assuming she did not steal anything or set any buildings on fire as she escaped?
1. He prides himself on never letting any of his slaves escape. Escaped slaves might be common for others, but not for him.
2. She did something to make him loathe her before she escaped.
3. He's just plain nuts.
4. He has more gold than he knows what to do with.
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Spite.
If the slaver's rich and the escaped slave embarrassed him somehow, that's really all the motivation he needs to do something pointlessly expensive.
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Since you've specifically said that it's bounty hunters trying to bring "her" back, the simple solution is that she has information that the villain needs, even if she isn't away of what that is. More complex options are that she's the daughter of one of his enemies/rivals that the villain had been holding hostage; she might be part of a prophecy that the villain is trying to stop or make sure happens; or she's a component of a ritual which might, or might not require her being sacrificed. You can always keep her in the dark about what this knowledge/situation is which would be a fun excuse to run some "flash back" scenes/adventures that would give her a chance to figure out what the details are.
If she took something of importance, the pursuers would be more likely trying to get the object, not her, and if she "saw something she shouldn't have", it would more likely be assassins after her.
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Some good ideas there.
Another one: She has given birth to his child. Maybe he fears that the kid could claim his birthright when he grows up or maybe he wants to actually become the child his heir. But she ran away while pregnant because she doesn't want to have anything to do with him or maybe she doesn't want his kid to grow in that kind of society. The fact is that only she knows where the child is.
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There's a card in the Deck of Many Things that causes a random acquaintance to become a deadly enemy.
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Even better, combine a few of these. That'll make for a more developed idea.
Perhaps the character was chosen to be a sacrifice to the dark god, but overheard something important during the preparation, so when she fled, the owner spared no expense in hiring the most relentless and merciless hunter.
Meanwhile the hunter has become so obsessed with her, due to her being the first quarry to escape his initial trap, that he has developed a twisted love for her, but in the sense of wanting to possess and own her for himself.
Then, it turns out that the secret she overheard leads to a series of information revealing that she was really the hidden daughter of a powerful former leader in the slave nation, and she could conceivably claim authority there.
She was very fast with a knife when he tried to "inspect" her. The slave trader, who has no legitimate heirs, faces having his bloodline ended due to this.
Add in some politics into the mix where he loses a lot of power because he could not guarantee a son to carry on his position (maybe a noble?).
This would give you elements of personal injury, loss of a bodily function he enjoyed, loss of family, and loss of position/reputation. So this would provide more than enough justification to drop everything and chase her at any expense.