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A court in eastern Pakistan’s Punjab province has finally ordered the release of a 13-year-old Christian girl who was abducted, forced to marry one of her kidnappers, tortured and chained up in a cattle pen for up to five months.
Pakistan court frees Christian girl tortured by Muslim kidnapper christianpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from christianpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Court in Pakistan Orders Abducted Christian Teen to Rejoin Her Family
02/18/2021 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – On February 16, a Sessions Court in Pakistan ordered that Farah Shaheen, a 13-year-old Christian girl, rejoin her family after being abducted and forcefully married to a 45-year-old Muslim man. The decision brings to a close an eight-month legal battle over the custody of the Christian teen.
Shaheen’s parents reported to police that three Muslims, including 45-year-old Khizar Hayat, abducted Shaheen from their home on June 25. After the abduction, Shaheen’s parents claim their daughter was forcefully married to Hayat and converted to Islam.
On December 5, 2020, Shaheen was recovered by police from the home of Hayat. Human rights activists reported Shaheen had marks of abuse on her body and was transferred to a shelter home by local courts.
“The case has been taken up by the parliamentary committee of human rights in the Senate of Pakistan and police are attending the committee’s hearings. She confessed before the magistrate … that she married Khizer Hayat of her own free will and she wants to live with him,” said Musaddiq Riaz, a detective with Faisalabad police
.
The father of the girl – who is not being named to protect her identity – told the Guardian that the police had discovered his daughter at a house in Hafizabad, 110km (68 miles) from her home.
“They repeatedly raped my daughter. She was in trauma after being subjected to physical and mental torture. They had forcibly converted her to Islam. She was kept as a slave and forced to work having a chain attached to her ankles. Police were not registering my complaint and threatened me [for] being a minority Christian and used discriminatory remarks,” he said.