12-Year-Old Pakistan Girl Abducted and Raped for 8 Months to Force Her to Convert to Islam
A 12-year-old Christian girl from the Punjab province of Pakistan was reportedly kidnapped and raped for 8 months in a horrific ordeal to get her to convert to Islam, the Asia Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has reported.
The AHRC has reported that the rapists have not been arrested due to their ties with the banned militant Lashkar-e-Tayyaba group.
The group is one of the largest and most active militant Islamic terrorist groups in South Asia and mainly operates out of Pakistan.
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According to details noted by the AHRC, the girl was kidnapped on Dec. 24, 2010 when she was out shopping with a friend. Allegedly the young girl was lured into a shopping trip with a friend who introduced her to one of her abductors as her uncle.
Upon her kidnapping, the girl was held captive 120 miles away from her home in Tandianwallla and was forced to sign marriage papers with one of her rapists and beaten when she refused to convert to Islam.
The girl’s parents reported her missing in January, however, local police did not take investigative action to help find the girl throughout her 8-month ordeal.
The victim was finally discovered in September after she had escaped captivity and contacted her parents that picked her up from hiding at a bus-station.
The family took her to a local police station but both a medical checkup and extra security to protect the young girl were not given.
Now, the family has gone into hiding with their daughter, as local police have warned the family that they should return their daughter to her “legal” husband.
The family was warned that if they do not return the girl that the parents could face criminal prosecution even though the legal age for marriage in Pakistan is 16.
The rapists have filed a complaint against the parents and claim that the girl is pregnant.
The Pakistan Christian Post argued that this case is “yet another example” of how the Punjab provincial government is upholding the actions of banned militant organizations. The AHRC also claims that the Pakistan provincial government is offering support to illegal militant organizations.
The British Pakistani Christian Association has launched a petition calling on the Pakistani government to investigate the attack and has also called upon the British government to ensure that the rapists in Pakistan see justice.
