As the country is reeling from the trial of the former prime minister, a new case of serious violence has been opened in Faisalabad against a girl kidnapped from her home and raped for seven days by acquaintances. Local Muslim notables press for the charges to be dropped. The NGO Voice for Pakistan: “The protection of Christian minors has become the main problem of religious minorities.”
Faisalabad () – Pakistan has lived for days with the spotlight on the court case of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose detention was declared illegal on Tuesday by the Supreme Court. But the very high tension throughout the country around this matter, with the demonstrations by supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the wave of arrests, contrasts with the indifference to the demand for justice in the face of the phenomenon of violence against minorities, which affects even very young girls in a particularly egregious way.
The last serious case registered is that of the Christian minor Angel Robin, 13 years old, who was kidnapped and victim of a brutal group rape in Chak 109, a town in the Faisalabad area. Angel, a sixth grader, belongs to a particularly vulnerable family. On April 27, four people known for her bad reputation (Adeel, Nauman Awan, Shana, Hafiz Aslam, all Muslims) and an unknown man took her from her home.
The family filed a complaint against the four at the Khurrianwala police station. Nearby they found her after seven days of violence, and a medical report further confirmed that the Christian girl had suffered an extreme form of sexual violence. Even so, the four defendants were granted bail. And local political and religious leaders are putting pressure on Angel Robin’s family not to take legal action.
This was reported by the Voice Pakistan human rights association, which is following the case. “The protection of underage Christian girls has become the main problem for religious minorities,” she told its CEO, Zohaib Newton. “The Pakistani government should seriously work on a legislative solution. The perpetrators should be given an exemplary lesson for this heinous crime.”
Responding to this violent incident, Tabinda Saher, President of the Women’s Power Circle, added: “Angel is only a sixth grader and the perpetrators carried out this brutal act against her because they knew she was from a poor Christian family and they would be left behind. except after such brutality. This young woman suffers physical and mental damage and is taking medication, while the attackers are at large and continue to threaten the family to compromise. We stand with the poor family and will fight until justice is done.”
Photo: Flickr/bluewinx15
