Pakistan: 13-Year-old Christian Girl Kidnapped, Tortured, Raped and Forced to Convert to Islam by Muslim Man


She was also forced to marry her rapist..’

Faisalabad, Pakistan:   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 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”.