Sisters' Stories

Women

• Two Nigerian States Face a Spate of Violent Attacks

  

  Recent attacks by militants in Nigeria have resulted in dozens of deaths, along with kidnappings and the destruction of homes. Many Christians were targeted in these repeated violent attacks, often the result of their perpetrators' strict adherence to militant Islamic ideology. For more details on the suffering of Christians in Nigeria, go to our country report.

• 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.

• Five Years of Captivity for Leah Sharibu

  

  In February 2018, Boko Haram militants raided a girls' school in Dapchi, Yobe State, kidnapping 110 students. A month later, it was reported that five of the schoolgirls had died in captivity and all but one of the surviving students were released. The remaining victim, Leah Sharibu, continued to be held captive because she refused to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam (see this report). Since that time, various reports have surfaced indicating that Leah is still alive. A report in May 2021 stated that she was forced into marriage and had just given birth to a second child (read more).

• 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.

• Official Threatens Christian with Blasphemy Charges

  

  A Christian security guard at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, was recently threatened with blasphemy charges because she insisted on following regulations. Thankfully, the incident was captured on video footage, documenting the entire exchange.

• Sentence Upheld for House Church Pastor

  

  In July 2019, Pastor Hao Zhiwei from the Egangqiao Church was arrested for allegedly swindling money. The charges came about because the Christian leader collected financial offerings to support the unregistered house church she was overseeing. Since the church is not part of the country's Three-Self Patriotic Movement, authorities of the Communist government deemed it illegal. (See this page to review a previous report.)

• Christian Woman Severely Beaten

  

  Since 2015, members of the Great Commission Baptist Church in the community of Rancho Nuevo, Hidalgo State, have been prohibited from accessing their land to cultivate crops. On December 21st, Maria Concepcion Hernández-Hernández was physically assaulted for merely viewing her plot of land after being asked by a neighbour to remove two trees from the property. When local leaders were informed that the Christian woman had gone to her land, she was ambushed and brutally beaten.

• Young Domestic Worker Sexually Assaulted

  

  A Christian girl in Pakistan who worked as a domestic servant is still awaiting justice three months after she was raped at her employer's home. Even though the incident was reported to police, no action has been taken to arrest those responsible.

• Abducted Pastor and His Wife Released!

  

  The previous month, a report from the Persecution & Prayer Alert addressed concerns over the ongoing harassment experienced by churches in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. It was reported that the leader of the Kurchatov Church in Mariupol, together with his wife, had been abducted by Russian soldiers. At that time, their location was unknown. (For more information, see this page.)

• Escaped Child Bride Seeks Annulment

  

  Anita Emmanuel was 16 years old when she was kidnapped by her rickshaw driver over a year ago in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Since both of her parents worked, arrangements had been made for Muhammad Wasim to drop the Christian teenager off at school each day and then bring her home after classes. Everything was fine until Muhammad began to become more friendly and, unfortunately, Anita did not recognize the warning signs.