Tension grows in Pakistan’s Punjab province after Islamist violence spreads through the region. Christians and other minorities live in fear of the further escalation of the situation. As part of the violence against minorities, kidnapping, forced conversion, and child marriage are not a rare sight. In the case of Laiba, it’s no different.

Laiba is a 10-year-old Pakistani Christian girl who was kidnapped, raped, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to her kidnapper. She was abducted in February of this year, but her case is still ongoing. After her abduction, she was handed over to an influential Muslim man, who placed her in a women’s shelter, denying her parents the right to meet her.

Her parents then received a possibly false letter in which she denied being kidnapped, raped, and that she willingly converted, married, and went to the women’s shelter. They also received the marriage contract, which was undoubtedly false. On the paper, Laiba’s age was 17, but her official birth certificate shows that she was born in October 2013, making her 10-year-old.

Upon receiving this information, the police soon arrested Laiba’s kidnapper. The case is still ongoing, but the women’s center and her supervisor are denying her parents the opportunity to meet her, making the situation far more difficult.

Source: Asia News

Photo: Jarek Jarosz