Christian family seeks justice after girl raped in Pakistan

Pakistani police have refused to arrest two Muslims who raped a 15-year-old Christian girl. The suspects threatened to harm the suspects’ family members if they did not withdraw the complaint, relatives and lawyers said.

Sonia Mehboob said her daughter was raped by Fahad Nasir and Muhammad Amjad in Lahore on the night of July 1. The police were reluctant to file a complaint and delayed filing a First Information Report (FIR) by a day, she said.

“We went to the police station several times, but each time we were treated harshly by the police,” Mehboob told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “When the police finally registered our FIR, no attempt was made to arrest the accused, so they were able to obtain interim bail from the court.”

Her daughter, whose name is being withheld as a rape victim, had left the house around 10 p.m. to go to a nearby grocery store. When she returned, the two suspects stopped her on the street and forced her to drink drugged water, Mehboob said.

“She became unconscious after drinking the drugged water. After that, the accused took her to a house and raped her,” she said.

Mehboob, a Catholic domestic worker, said she and her husband went looking for their daughter when she did not return.

“While we were looking for her, we saw Fahad standing on the street,” she said. “When we asked him about our daughter, he said he saw her walking towards a nearby park.”

They rushed to the park and returned to their street because they did not find her there.

“Fahad was not there,” said Mehboob. “After some time, we saw Amjad coming out of a house, followed by (my daughter), who could hardly walk.”

When Amjad saw her, she ran away, she said, adding that her daughter was under the influence of drugs and could barely speak.

“Her clothes were soaked in blood. We immediately called the police who took her to the hospital for treatment and medical examination,” said Mehboob. “The medical examination revealed that she had been raped. There were also torture and bite marks on her body.”

Some officers went to the scene and seized evidence and found illegal weapons in the house, she said.

Mehboob filed an application to register a case against Nasir and Amjad, but the local police were not ready to register the complaint that day, she said. She had asked the investigating officer several times to conduct DNA tests of the victim and the two suspects, but he refused, she said.

“The accused are now threatening to withdraw the complaint and warning us of dire consequences,” said Mehboob.

On July 19, the suspects falsely filed an assault complaint against her 16-year-old son, Zikaria, accusing him of attacking Nasir, even though the teenager can barely walk due to a leg injury, she said.

“They have also brought Sadiq Masih, a local Christian counselor, into the case because he is helping us in our quest for justice,” Mehboob said.

Her daughter said she was confused when she regained consciousness and found herself in a room.

“My mind was numb and my vision was blurred when I regained consciousness,” she told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “At first I didn’t know what had happened to me, but then I started to feel the pain. It was terrible. I had some bite marks on my body, which also hurt a lot.”

When she regained consciousness, there was no one else in the house and after some time Amjad unlocked the main gate, she said.

“I tried to run away, but he hit me and bit my cheek as I tried to free myself,” she said. “I started screaming for help, so he let go of me and left the house. I followed him outside and while I was trying to figure out where I was, my parents saw me and hugged me.”

She said the attack left her with severe psychological and physical trauma.

“I still can’t sleep at night. The bitter memory of that night haunts me to this day,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Shahid Altaf, a local Muslim from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said he supported the Christian family “because it was the right thing to do.”

“Although I am a Muslim, I demand justice for her because she is the victim of a barbaric crime,” Altaf told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The accused are notorious criminals and have a history of sexually abusing underage children. They also act as informants for the police, which is why no action is being taken against them.”

With Altaf’s help, the family on Saturday (July 27) hired Christian lawyer Zunaira Yousaf to pursue the case. She said she would challenge the suspects’ bail at a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday (July 30).

“I have also submitted a request to the Superintendent of the Investigation Department of the Police for a change of the investigating officer in this case,” Yousaf told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The police are clearly on the side of the accused; almost a month has passed, but the police have still not conducted DNA tests on the accused and the victim. This is why the accused have managed to extend their bail three times before being arrested by the court.”

The case shows how difficult it is for vulnerable Christians to obtain justice in Pakistan, she said.

“In her statement to the police, (the victim) identified Fahad as the person who intoxicated her,” Yousaf said. “Moreover, the house where she was raped is Fahad’s tenant. These facts justify Fahad’s immediate arrest, but the investigating officer deliberately did not oppose his release on bail.”

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places for Christians, the same as last year.