ICC Note:
A Christian girl in the Kasur District of Pakistan’s Punjab Province was reportedly kidnapped, beaten, and stripped naked by a Muslim family who were upset about the girl’s uncle having a romantic relationship with a Muslim girl. Inter-religious relationships in Pakistan often create tensions between religious communities in Pakistan. In many cases, members from minority faiths, like Christians, are asked or told to convert to Islam in order to remain in the relationship. In some cases, the tensions created by these relationships can lead violence breaking out between religious communities.
1/4/2016 Pakistan (BosNewsLife) – A Christian girl was kidnapped, beaten, stripped and left naked in Pakistan by Muslims who were outraged that her uncle plans to marry a Muslim, Christians involved in the case told BosNewsLife.
The attack against 7-year-old Perwasha in the country’s Punjab province came amid a wider crackdown in mixed marriages and other relationships in this Islamic country.
Perwasha Masih was recovering on New Year’s Day after a Muslim family forcibly stopped her on her way home from school in the village of Dillon Kalan in the provincial district of Kasur, Christians said.
They allegedly took her to their house where they reportedly beat her and stripped her naked, leaving the girl’s school uniform in the garbage to burn.
“Its absolutely horrific,” said Sardar Mushtaq Gill, national director of advocacy group Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD), who supports the girl and her family.
He told BosNewsLife that Muslims were angry that the girl’s maternal uncle, Iftikhar Masih, “was dating a Muslim girl” and “decided to take revenge by dishonoring his niece.”
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