ICC Note:
Rights activists have claimed that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of attack on Christian women and girls in Pakistan. Many cases of assaults, rapes, kidnappings, forced marriages, and forced conversions have been reported over the past months. Christian women in Pakistan often face a type of “double persecution” because they follow the wrong faith and are the wrong gender. In many cases, police refuse to assist these Christian women after they are victimized. Please pray against this in Pakistan.
1/26/2015 Pakistan (BosNewsLife) – Rights activists say there has been “a dramatic increase” in the number of Christian girls and women facing “brutal assaults” in Pakistan, with local police often refusing to intervene.
In one of the latest incidents on November 28, two Christian sisters, aged 14 and 16, were attacked in a village located within Jaranwala district after going into a field to use the washroom.
The girls’ family said three males “assaulted” the sisters repeatedly overnight. They have since been threatened by the perpetrators of the apparent sexual abuse with warnings not to press charges, Christians said.
Family members also claim that police have obstructed attempts to gather medical evidence.
Aid and advocacy group Voice of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) told BosNewsLife that its sister group in Britain “are ensuring the girls receive the medical care and legal assistance they need.”
Elsewhere in Punjab, a 14-year-old girl was reportedly abducted on November 26 in the Thatha Gondal area.
Christians said it is believed that she has been forcibly converted to Islam and married to her kidnapper. Local Christians and Muslims have been involved in negotiations to return the girl to her family, BosNewsLife learned.
Elsewhere a pregnant mother of four from Rana Town was reportedly attacked after resisting what Christians described as “a ruthless woman’s attempts” to make her convert to Islam.
The Christian mother was allegedly “brutally attacked” by the instigator’s brothers.
“After stripping the pregnant mother of her clothing and disgracefully parading her in public, the men robbed and finally beat the victimized believer to the point of unconsciousness,” VOMC said.
Local police “initially refused to register a case” but relented after pressure from rights activists, the group explained, adding that it had asked for prayers for the Christians.
Pakistan, a heavily Islamic state, has seen an increase in attacks against devoted Christians. Several of them remain detained on controversial charges of blasphemy against Islam, which potentially carry the death penalty.
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