Pakistan: Pastor Takes Family Into Hiding Following Rape of 14-Year-Old Daughter
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A pastor in Punjab Province, Pakistan has taken his family into hiding after police failed to arrest an Islamic neighbor who raped his 14-year-old daughter and then threatened them all, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Pastor Aslam Masih of Muridke, Sheikhupura District, Punjab Province learned on October 31 that his daughter had been raped by local Muslim Suleman Azhar, MSN reports. “She told us that Suleman and his friends bundled her into a car when she was returning home from school and took her to a house where Suleman raped her,” Pastor Masih said in a statement to MSN.
The terrified girl was afraid Azhar would murder her, Pastor Masih said. The pastor reported the matter on November 2, but police took no action. “Their indifference helped Suleman in obtaining pre-arrest bail, and he has since been threatening us, demanding that we withdraw the case,” Pastor Masih said.
Suspecting the police were protecting Azhar as an Islamic man, Pastor Masih sought justice in the court system, filing rape charges under Section 354 of the Pakistan Penal Code against using criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
The pastor then took his family into hiding, MSN said.
In a statement to MSN, Aslam Pervez Sahotra, chairman of the Pakistan Masiha Millat Party, said: “The police’s refusal to act against the accused has exacerbated the family’s ordeal, and they are forced to live in hiding away from their home. Our daughters, our community, are living in fear, and the government must show that it cares for them by ensuring speedy justice and punishment to the accused.”
Ruled by a harsh Islamic regime, Pakistan ranks seven on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
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