Sheikhupura Fort, built in 1607 in Sheikhupura city, Pakistan. (Bhaur, Creative Commons)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A pastor and his family have gone into hiding after a Muslim neighbor who raped his 14-year-old daughter tried to kidnap her and force her to convert to Islam and marry her, he said.

The daughter of Pastor Aslam Masih of Muridke, Sheikhupura District, Punjab Province, was on her way to school on Oct. 31 when Suleman Azhar blocked her way with his motorcycle and forced her to board it, the pastor said. The panicked girl, whose name is withheld as a rape victim, freed herself and ran back home.

“Upon inquiring why she had returned home, she told us that Suleman had been harassing her for a long time to convert to Islam and marry her,” Pastor Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “When I confronted Suleman, he threatened me, saying I should do whatever I could to protect my daughter. I did not know then that he had already assaulted her once.”

Fearing for his daughter’s safety, Pastor Masih moved his family to a relative’s house in Lahore. Their disappearance angered Azhar, who attacked their home in Muridke, damaging property and firing shots in the air, the pastor said.

Pastor Masih on Nov. 2 filed a complaint with police, who registered a First Information Report (FIR) but did not take any action against the suspect, he said.

“Their indifference helped Suleman in obtaining pre-arrest bail, and he has since been threatening us, demanding that we withdraw the case,” Pastor Masih said.

The 63-year-old pastor and his wife were stunned when their daughter later revealed that Azhar had raped her in September.

“She couldn’t bear the agony and trauma any longer and broke down into tears,” he said. “She told us that Suleman and his friends bundled her into a car when she was returning home from school and took her to a house where Suleman raped her.”

She had kept quiet about the assault fearing Azhar would kill her and her family, he said.

Pastor Masih again began visiting police, but his pleas for justice fell on deaf ears, he said. Frustrated and suspecting Azhar had influenced the police to take no action, he sought court intervention.

His attorney, Malik Zaman Haider, said Pastor Masih’s daughter has recorded her statement against Suleman in court, and that he has filed a request for a medical examination and the addition of rape charges to the FIR.

Haider said the FIR had been registered under Section 354 of the Pakistan Penal Code against using criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Such a rape case should be registered under Section 375 against consensual or forced sex with a girl under the age of 16, which is punishable with death or imprisonment for 10 to 25 years, the attorney said.

Aslam Pervez Sahotra, chairman of the Pakistan Masiha Millat Party, said her case highlighted the challenges that Christian girls and women face. Urging the Punjab chief minister and Punjab inspector general of police to take notice of the case, Sahotra said the victim was not only a daughter of the Christian community but of the country.

“We condemn the assault on our daughter as well as the threats being employed to force her to convert to Islam and marry her rapist,” Sahotra told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The police’s refusal to act against the accused has exacerbated the family’s ordeal, and they are forced to live in hiding away from their home.”

He appealed to the Muslim community to raise their voices as well against such brazen atrocities.

“Our daughters, our community, are living in fear, and the government must show that it cares for them by ensuring speedy justice and punishment to the accused,” Sahotra said.

The U.N.’s Human Rights Committee on Nov. 7 expressed concern about persistent reports of abduction and forced marriages of girls from minority religions in Pakistan, regardless of their age and prevailing law. Forced to convert to Islam under threat of violence, they suffer rape, trafficking and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. The U.N. body also expressed concern about reports of the widespread impunity surrounding these cases.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.

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