A Christian Pakistani 13-year-old girl was reportedly forced to convert into Islam by a Muslim man only to become a slave "cook."
The Christian Post said the minor, a resident from the Punjab region of Pakistan, was being held for ransom by the man who forced to convert her into Islam before turning her into his cook. The man is said to be name Altaf who is a medical doctor and a married Muslim.
The minor is named Neha. She was allowed by her parents to work for Altaf out of their family's need for extra income. Neha's parents were said to earn only $50 a month for their family of 10.
Neha's father, Munawar Masih, learned that Altaf was in need of two girls to work in his house for $65 a month. Masih then sent her daughters Neha and Sneha to Altaf and worked there for four years "despite being treated as slaves." They were paid only $20 a month.
The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement that is based in the United Kingdom said that the sisters complained of their unjust experience. CLAAS provides legal assistance to the family.
"(They) complained about mistreatment by the family, who would swear at them and even physically assault them," CLAAS said in a statement.
"They told the family that they wanted to go back home and live with their family, but Dr. Altaf did not allow them to leave," the non-profit organization added.
According to The Christian Post, Altaf eventually sent Sneha home when her health deteriorated. He did not allow Neha to do the same when Masih requested to. Altaf claimed that Neha had already converted to Islam and "therefore could not live with her parents any longer." Neha, he said, was converted to allow her to enter their kitchen and cook for them. He also claimed Masih was overpaid by $1,750 and must pay this to get Neha back.
"Perhaps Pakistan is the only country where such crimes are happening on a daily basis under the cover of Islam. It cannot be justified at any cost that a young girl was converted to Islam against her will and without her parents' knowledge and now she cannot be returned to her parents because her parents are Christians, and she cannot be allowed to live them," CLAAS Director Nasir Saeed pointed out in their statement.
The Christian Post said there are roughly 1,000 abducted girls and women from Pakistan's religious minority group--Christians and Hindus--that are converted to Islam annually after being abducted based on The Movement for Solidarity and Peace Pakistan 2014 study. The study also said that the said abducted girls and women were also forced to marry their abductors.
In January, Christian sisters Abida Qaiser and Sajida Mushtaq where found dead in Lahore, Pakistan by local police after their Muslim employers killed them for refusing to convert to Islam. While Venus Bibi, a 30-year-old Christian mother of five from Pakistan's Sahoo Ki Malian Village was abducted by several Muslim men headed by Muhamad Akbar on April 1. Bibi was held captive for 20 days and experienced torture and rape while being drugged so she could not escape.
The prevalence of such forced conversions has prompted Christian leaders in Pakistan to call on the government to make concrete actions on it just this month. The Christian leaders were from the Archdiocese of Karachi Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace who pointed out that existing laws on minority rights were obstructed by discrimination against religious minorities when it comes to its actual implementation and has led to the continuity of Christian women and girls being abducted and forced to convert to Islam and to be married to their Muslim abductors.
