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Five Muslims kidnap a 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan

Teenager Saneha Sharif was abducted from outside her home in Punjab on the 9th of January.

According to Sharif Masih, Saneha’s father: “Saneha was lured out of the house by a Muslim girl whose family had recently moved to our neighbourhood. A neighbour, Rehan Razaque, saw her being bundled into a van by the accused, which included two women, one of whom was the mother of the girl who had brought Saneha out of her home. The police registered a case but arrested only two accused, including Samina Usman and Shabbir Ahmed. Samina has been sent into judicial custody, while Ahmed is still in police custody, but both the accused have not yet provided any lead that could help recover Saneha.”

Despite filing a report, authorities have not made any progress in finding the perpetrators and saving the Christian girl.

Masih expressed his disappointment in the judicial system: “Despite repeated pleas to the police, they are not making any effort to recover Saneha or arrest the other accused. We even gave them some cell phone numbers to trace the whereabouts of Dildar, but nothing has been done to find him. The investigating officer of the case, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ihsan Ullah, is making no effort to track the accused. It’s been nearly two weeks Saneha has been missing, and we fear that the accused will force her to convert to Islam and marry Dildar to give a legal cover to their crime.”

His wife has become sick since the kidnapping and Masih faces a financial burden on top of his abducted daughter’s case. Hospital fees are high and the Christian family is struggling. He stated: “We are very weak and can only plead for the higher authorities to save our daughter from these criminals.”

Human rights’ advocates have urged the Pakistani government to pass a bill that would increase the legal age for marriage for both boys and girls to 18 years. Christian lawyer Lazar Allah Rakha highlighted the importance of such a law: “The provincial government should pass the new anti-child marriage bill at the earliest to protect minor girls, especially those from the Christian and Hindu minority communities, from forced conversions in guise of marriages.”

Currently the minimum age for girls to marry is still 16 in Punjab. The Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024 set the marriageable age at 18 only for Christians. In case they convert to Islam, girls considered Muslims come under Sharia law, which allows them to get married at a younger age. 

Source: https://morningstarnews.org

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