Pakistan: Christian girl of 13 abducted, converted to Islam and forced to marry
Faisalabad (
AsiaNews) - For more than five months there has been no news of Saba Waris , a 13
year old Christian girl from Jameelabad . The
little girl was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and forced to marry Syed
Munawar Hussain, a Muslim of 32 years . Naseem
Bibi, the child's mother asks AsiaNews for "any help possible. I want my
daughter back and I want justice." So far,
the woman has gone to the police, but without success.
It all started on 20
June. Saba 's family is poor and had to
remove her from school because of economic difficulties. Usually
she would accompany her mother to work, but that day she was not well and preferred
to stay at home. In
the few hours in which she was alone, Hussain broke into the house and abducted
her. Naseem
Bibi returned home in the afternoon and not being able to find her daughter was
on her way to report her missing, when the Muslim kidnapper's a mother, sister
and a brother showed up and told her that Munawar Hussain had taken Saba .
Naseem
wanted to go to the police, but the
others asked her to wait four days, during which they would try to find a way
to bring back her daughter. A
couple of days later , she received a phone call from Saba, who said: "
Munawar Hussain has kidnapped me and tried to force me convert to Islam". Soon after, the call was cut off.
Once
the four days were up, the man's mother and sister returned to Naseem Bibi and
said that Saba was married to Munawar and that she had converted to Islam. "Do
not go to the police or court - they threatened her - or you will be responsible for serious
consequences. She is a Muslim now: stop thinking about her, forget her". As
proof, the Christian woman received a marriage certificate, also signed by her
daughter .
On
June 28, Naseem went to the police to register an FIR (First Information
Report) against Syed Munawar Hussain , under Article 365B (kidnapping a woman
for forced marriage ) of the Criminal Code . To
assist in her legal battle she turned for help to Human Rights Focus Pakistan (
Hrfp ), which provided proof of the kidnapping and forced conversion of the
littkke girl to the court of Sargodha . On
October 17 , the court issued an arrest warrant for Syed Munawar Hussain Since
then, officials have not been able to track down the man.
According
to Naseem Bibi , the Muslim kidnapped her daughter for revenge : " My son
Moon Waris worked with him, but was not paid . I told him not to work with
Hussain, and they took my child."
"Forced
conversions to Islam - Christian activist Shazia George tells AsiaNews - have
become a common practice in Pakistan. The main reason for this increase is the
presence of a legal and judicial system that does not provide support for
minorities".
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