Three daughters of a Pakistani Christian family were reunited with their parents after a legal battle between the family and the girls employers over custody. The parents, Naveed Masih and Mina Naveed, poor brick kiln workers in Kasur District, Punjab Province, Pakistan, were forced to send their three daughters, aged 9, 13, and 16, to work because of their financial status. The parents trusted Haleema Bibi, a Muslim woman who is known for finding jobs for Christian children in the area.

The girls were sent to work as domestic workers in three different households. Everything seemed fine until Mina Naveed’s 5-year-old daughter fell ill, and the family requested that their eldest daughter, Hina Naveed, return home for a short time and help to look after her ill sister.

“After a couple of days, Haleema told us that Hina’s employers were demanding 300,000 rupees as a ‘security deposit’ to return the girl. We were shocked to hear this absurd demand and refused to accept it. When we insisted on Hina’s unconditional return, Haleema started threatening us with legal consequences,”

said Mina Naveed. After witnessing Haleema Bibi’s approach, Mina demanded that all three of her daughters be returned to their family immediately. Bibi refused to send back the daughters, claiming that they converted to Islam and wish to remain at their Muslim employers and not to return to their Christian parents. The parents then were able to file a complaint and take their case to court with the help of Katherine Sapna, executive director of legal advocacy group Christians True Spirit (CTS). Sapna said about the court trial that,

“The entire courtroom was shocked when the girls said that they were Muslims and didn’t want to go with their parents. It was a sensitive case, and we laud Justice Ahmed for making the right decision. He gave the parents sufficient time to talk to the children, and they [the parents] succeeded in convincing them [to retract their statements].”

The eldest daughter, Hina, said that her employer told her that converting to Islam is the only way she can save herself because her parents would do terrible things to her if she went back, such as selling her organs or forcing her to be a sex worker. She also said that her employer mistreated her, made her sit on the floor while eating, and beat her. Both of her younger sisters, Neha and Mehru, had similar experiences with their employers.

“My employer, Uzma Faisal, pressured me to tell the court that I had accepted Islam and wanted to live with her. She too portrayed a very negative image of my parents.”

Said 13-year-old Neha. After the girls talked to their parents and the truth was uncovered, the court decided in favor of the parents and gave them custody over their illegally detained daughters. The court, however, did not order any legal action against Haleem Bibi and the employers of the daughters for attempted force conversion. Now the girls are in safety, and CTS helps rebuild their lives.

Source: Christian Daily

Photo: Mallika Panorat