FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Muslim Kidnaps Wife to Force Her to Convert to Islam
Muslim Man Threatens to Kill Wife who Wanted to Raise Their Son as a Christian
You are free to disseminate the following news. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address www.www.persecution.org. Contact Samuel Wallace, Regional Manager for South Asia, Europe, and Latin America, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, samuel.wallace@www.persecution.org.
(February 20, 2009) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.www.persecution.org has just learned that a Pakistani Muslim has abducted his Christian wife and newborn son to force her to embrace Islam after promising at their wedding that she could practice her faith freely.
Ghulab Masih, the father of the abducted Christian woman, told ICC that he feared his daughter could pay the ultimate price for her faith, facing torture and even death at the hands of her abusive husband for refusing to convert to Islam.
Ghulab’s daughter fell in love with a Muslim man and married him seven years ago, despite Ghulab’s repeated objections. His daughter, Kiran Bibi, had no intentions of converting to Islam, and married Muhammad Jawad Khan on the condition that they would both be free to live and worship according to their own religions.
The couple began to fight after the birth of their son. Kiran wanted the boy to be baptized, given a Christian name, and raised to become a pastor. Khan, on the other hand, wanted his son to be raised as a Muslim.
This dispute drove a wedge into their marriage, and the couple started fighting constantly. Khan forgot his promise to respect her religion and began pressuring Kiran to convert to Islam. He even threatened to kill her and abduct their son if she refused.
“My daughter along with her newly born son came to my house after leaving her Muslim husband’s house on Jan 30th,” Ghulab said. “But this act of my daughter enraged my Muslim son-in-law Muhammad Jawad Khan and he at several times forcibly tried to take her back to his home.”
Finally, on the night of February 8, Khan and three accomplices identified as Chand, Muhammad Elahi and Kalu, broke into Ghulab’s house brandishing firearms and forcibly took Kiran and her infant son to an unknown location.
Zaheer Masih, Kiran’s brother, said the police refused to register a case because it was simply a “quarrel” between a man and wife and that police could not intervene. At press time, Kiran was still missing and none of her family had heard from her.
Unfortunately, this situation is all too common in the Muslim world. Muslim men will frequently entice Christian women into marriage by promising that they will respect each other’s religions, but after a few years renege on the promise and begin pressuring their wives to become Muslim. Some men are even paid if they can successfully “persuade” their Christian wife to convert, and will go to extreme measures to make sure that they do.
Please contact the Pakistani embassy in your country and ask them to take action to ensure that Christians in Pakistan receive justice.
Pakistan Embassies:
USA: (202) 243-6500, info@embassyofpakistanusa.org
Canada: (613) 238-7881, parepottawa@rogers.com
UK: 0870-005-6967, hoc@phclondon.org
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ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
