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Pakistan

• Woman Killed for Refusing to Convert to Islam

  

  A Christian widow and mother of three was abducted, raped, murdered, and doused with acid after she refused to convert to Islam and marry one of her abductors. Shazia Imran worked at LUMS University in Lahore, Pakistan. On June 6th, at the end of her work shift, she failed to return home. Worried family members searched throughout the night for her and, the next day, they filed a police report. The police contacted the family that same day to notify them that a body was found in the morning. The family was able to identify the body as their missing loved one.

• Hundreds Flee After Blasphemy Charges

  

  Police have charged a Christian man, Haroon Shahzad, with blasphemy after he posted a Bible passage onto his Facebook page on June 29th. The passage, 1 Corinthians 10:18-21, refers to the sacrificing of food to idols, and the timing of the post coincided with the beginning of the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha. The post was made without comment.

• Christian Receives Death Sentence

  

  A 22-year-old Pakistani Christian was sentenced to death for blasphemy on May 30th. Noman Masih was found guilty of blaspheming against the Muslim prophet Muhammad because of the pictures he was accused of distributing in 2019.

• Two Youths Accused of Blasphemy

  

  Two Christian teenagers, one of whom is a minor, were arrested on May 18th due to accusations of blasphemy. Adil Babar, who is 18 years old, and a younger neighbour, Simon Nadeem, were charged after a complaint was filed claiming that they had insulted the Islamic prophet Mohammad while playing on the street.

• Teen Girl Kidnapped at Gunpoint

  

  A Christian teenager named Sehar was kidnapped from her home in Okaro, Punjab, on April 23rd. At last report, police were continuing to search for her, along with the three Muslim men responsible for the abduction.
  
  The 13-year-old girl worked at a local brick kiln, along with 11 of her siblings, to help support the family, since their elderly father is ill and unable to work. According to her brother Irfan, the three men on motorcycles kidnapped Sehar from her home at gunpoint and fled. One of the captors was recognized as Allah Rakha, who also worked at the kiln.

• Church Service Stormed by Mob

  

  Police have increased security around The Voice of Jesus Church in Khokhar, Pakistan, after a mob of approximately 40 men disrupted an evening service on April 16th. Thankfully, the injuries perpetrated by the mob were minimal. Even so, the church's gates and windows were damaged during the incident, and three bullet holes were left in the outer wall of the building.

• Father of Kidnapped Child Murdered

  

  On March 30th, the Persecution & Prayer Alert reported on a 12-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and, after being recovered, was placed in a women's shelter rather than being returned to her father. Young Hoorab Masih had been abducted by two local shopkeepers in December and then forced to convert to Islam and marry one of her kidnappers. For more details on the incident, see this page.

• Court Sends Child Bride to Shelter

  

  Hoorab Masih went missing on December 28th after she failed to return from grocery shopping. It was soon discovered that the 12-year-old had been kidnapped by a local shopkeeper, Muhammad Mustafa, and his co-worker, Muhammad Usman, who then forcibly converted the Christian girl to Islam. A few days later, Hoorab was found in a women's shelter after the arrests of Mustafa and Usman. However, when the two men were released on bail, they disappeared, along with Hoorab.

• Acquitted Christian Remains in "Virtual Prison"

  

  In 2013, Sawan Masih was arrested after his neighbour accused him of committing blasphemy. When the accused Christian man was convicted in 2014, he received the death sentence. After serving six years in prison, he was acquitted of all charges on October 5th, 2020, by the Lahore High Court. For more details on his case, go to this page.

• Teenager Forcibly Married to 60-Year-Old Man

  

  Sitara Arif, a 15-year-old Christian girl, was kidnapped on December 15th in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Abducted by the husband of her employer, she was forcibly converted to Islam and then married to her captor. It took almost two months for police to finally register a case against Rana Tayyab, despite repeated pleas from the girl's family.