Christians who were working as household helpers were forcefully converted to Islam by their Muslim employers, a report says.
Families of two Christian women who were sent to work as household helpers to Muslim employers complained that their relatives were forcefully converted to Islam, Morning Star News, via the International Christian Concern, reported. According to the statement that the family released, they recently discovered that their two Christian relatives were converted by their Muslim employers in Lahore, Pakistan for unknown reasons.
Nasreen Bibi, the aunt of Maham Manzoor and sister, Anum Manzoor went to the media to report that her two nieces were forced by their employers to denounce their Christian faith and embrace Islam. The family did not have any idea when the forced conversion took place.
"Both Anum and Maham have been forcibly converted," Nasreen said in a statement, as per ICC.
In an interview, Nasreen shared the story of how they discovered her two nieces' forced Islam conversion. She recalled that two years ago, Maham and Anum were sent to work as house cleaners in Lahore to provide for their families' financial needs.
During those two years, the family did not hear of any forced religious conversion on the two ladies. However, on Dec. 8 as Nasreen attempted to pick Maham up from her employer's place to go for Christmas shopping, the aunt was surprised by the employer's response. Maham's Muslim employer said Nasreen cannot see her niece because she had converted to Islam.
Anum's employer who happened to be a relative of Maham's employer later gave Nasreen a call. The Muslim employer told the aunt of the two Christian helpers to tell the family to forget about the two ladies as they are now Muslims.
The Muslim employer also warned Nasreen to stop trying to get in contact with the two helpers. They were threatened if they will try to communicate with either Anum and Maham.
On Dec, 15, Nasreen filed a formal complaint and brought the two employers to court seeking Maham and Anum's custody. However, her hope to find help from the court failed because the employers' were granted the two girls' custody.
"The police and court have unfortunately acted as facilitators of this crime," said Nasreen.
Maham and Anum's case is not new to the country as reports about forced conversion and forced marriages surfaced on the internet and media for several times. A survey showed that 1,000 Christian and Hindu women are forcefully converted to Islam every year.
The Movement for Solidarity and Peace Pakistan conducted the research and discovered that the forced conversions were executed in various ways. Some of the women were abducted while others were forced to marry a Muslim husband.
Alarmingly, the majority of the victims were proven to be minors. Sexual assault cases are often covered up with religious factors to put the assailants at a place of advantage.
Many Christian girls in Pakistan suffer from forced conversions. The story of Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year old girl recently surfaced on the internet as a Christian group sought her asylum after fleeing from her Muslim husband who allegedly abducted her and forced her to convert to Islam and into marriage. Mohamad Nakash, an already married man was aided by his mother in forcing the victim to do what they commanded, according to Christianity Daily.
