A Muslim man kidnapped a 12-year-old Christian girl and forced her to convert to Islam by marriage before keeping her chained up in his home like a slave.
The Catholic organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said the girl, Farah Shaheen, was abducted by 45-year-old Khizar Ahmed Ali in June 2020. The police rescued her in December 2020.
Farah's father, Asif Masih, told ACN that the girl was greatly traumatized by what she went through in the five months that Ali kept her captive. He said she found it difficult to talk about it, but little by little, she was able to tell him what Ali did to her.
Ali reportedly raped his daughter and allowed his landlords to abuse her.
"She was sexually assaulted by her abductor and raped multiple times by [his] landlords," Masih told ACN.
Ali then kept her as a slave and had her hands and feet shackled in his cattle yard, where he forced her to clean the animals' dung every day.
"She was forced to work all day, cleaning filth in a cattle yard. 24-7 she was attached to a chain," Masih said. Farah's hands and feet were injured by the time she was rescued.
Masih condemned the authorities for their neglect in handling Farah's case and not acting on it immediately.
When Farah had gone missing last year, Masih went to the police to report her disappearance. However, they dismissed his report and refused to open a First Information Report.
He said they also called him a "churrah," which means "filthy." The word is often used as a derogatory term for Christians.
It was only three months later that the police finally opened a First Information Report regarding Farah.
Masih spoke out against the courts and the medical professionals involved in her daughter's case.
To find out if Farah's marriage to Ali was legitimate or not, the court commissioned a medical team to determine Farah's age, even though Masih already showed them his daughter's official birth certificate confirming she turned 12 in June.
The medical report claimed Farah was around 16 to 17 years of age. Masih and his family said the finding was a lie and "an utter fabrication, a travesty of justice and an insult to the independence of the medical profession."
Masih also expressed disappointment that the court did not allow Farah to return home after her ordeal but turned her over to a women's refuge instead. He said Farah should be allowed to come home to help her recover after her traumatizing experience.
"It is urgent that she returns to us for the good of her mental health," he said.
Cases like that of Farah are not uncommon in Pakistan. In April last year, a 14-year-old Christian girl named Maira Shahbaz was abducted by 45-year-old Mohamad Nakash Tariq, who forced her to marry him and convert to Islam.
The girl was able to escape and return home. By then, however, her marriage had already been validated by the court.
She is presently in hiding for fear of backlash from Islamic extremists, who believe that her breaking off her marriage to Tariq is an apostasy.
Various groups are urging U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson to grant asylum to Shahbaz.
