Source: www.worthynews.com
Date: October 17, 2024
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) – A kidnapped 16-year-old Christian girl was back with her parents in an area of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Thursday after being rescued by Christian activists, a representative said.
The girl, whose name is known to Worthy News, was abducted and forcibly married to a Muslim man, publicly identified as Muhammad Rizwan.
Worthy News, in general, does not identify victims of possible sexual crimes unless they choose to come forward publicly.
The girl from Islamabad’s Bahria Town was reportedly abducted on July 28, 2024, by Rizwan, a meat vendor, and three accomplices.
“They forcibly took her to a farmhouse in the Sargodha district owned by an influential Muslim landlord,” said Farrukh H. Saif, the co-founder and director of the Emergency Committee to Save the Persecuted and Enslaved (ECSPE).
Saif told Worthy News that no “immediate action was taken by the police” despite her parents alerting law enforcement in an official complaint.
Instead, police “supported the claims of Rizwan that [she] had willingly converted to Islam and married him,” added Saif, whose ECSPE rescued her.
MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
“The marriage certificate presented to the authorities was fraudulent, with the date listed as July 22, 2024—before her actual abduction,” he added.
Eventually, “We successfully rescued [the girl], and today she is safely with her family after two and a half months of struggle. We thank our readers, supporters, and all those who prayed for her safe return,” Saif said.
The rescue came after Rizwan had allegedly taken her to a farmhouse reportedly owned by Muhammad Tanveer Talla, an influential landlord “notorious for enslaving families,” sources said.
She was then “subjected to severe physical and emotional abuse by Rizwan and his family, who threatened to kill her if she attempted to escape. The landlord even declared he would cut her into pieces if she made another escape attempt, Saif said.
There were no immediate comments from the accused or police.
Yet, “In our efforts to rescue” the girl, “the ECSPE team sought negotiations with the powerful farmhouse owner. Despite pressure from influential friends, the owner demanded a ransom of one million Pakistani Rupees ($3,600) for the girl’s release,” Saif recalled.
“On the brink of losing hope, ECSPE filed a new petition with the Additional Sessions Judge in Bhalwal” in the Sargodha District of Pakistan’s Punjab province, he explained.
COURT ORDER
“This time, we obtained a court order directing the police to recover” the girl “and bring her before the court the following morning,” Saif said.
“The decisive moment came when the ECSPE team, lawyer Rana Muhammad Abdullah, [and her] parents, and police officials raided the farmhouse.”
As the police arrived, the battered but aliveran towards her parents and collapsed in tears, according to Christians. “It was an emotional moment for everyone involved as the long and painful ordeal finally ended,” Saif said.
He added that “she was immediately taken into police custody for protection. And today, the court ruled in favor of [the family] returning her to her parents.”
Said said his team moved the family “to a secure location,” ensuring “that she is now safe and far from her captors.”
Her abduction is part of a broader pattern in Pakistan, an Islamic nation where Christian and Hindu girls are targeted for “forced conversion and marriage,” say Christian experts familiar with the situation.
Human rights groups estimate that about 1,000 Christian and Hindu girls are kidnapped annually in Pakistan “to be subjected to rape, forced conversion, and forced marriages by Muslim men.”
This “systemic abuse continues despite condemnation from international bodies like the United Nations,” Saif noted. “However, her rescue stands as a Ray of Hope that justice can be achieved through persistence, legal action, and support.”