We recently received a letter from our contact in Pakistan about the abduction, rape, and forced conversion of a fourteen year-old girl. It is posted below.

Dear Brother Keith

Greetings from Pakistan.

A young Christian girl named Asiya Masih, daughter of Francis Yaqoob, aged 14 years, was a resident of Chak no.198 EB, District Vihari. Francis Masih worked as a laborer in the fields of the landlords. Due to poverty, Asiya Masih also helped her parents in the fields to earn some more money for the family.

On 11th November, 2012, she went to work in the fields, picking cotton flowers. The two culprits, Mohammad Javed and Mohammad Mumtaz, who are the influential persons of their area, abducted her from the fields and took her to some unknown place. They took thumb impressions of Asiya Masih on different papers and forcibly converted her to Islam. They also raped her and tortured her for 11 days.

When Francis Masih came to know that Mohammad Javed and Mohammad Mumtaz had abducted his daughter, he filed a complaint at the local police station but the police did not cooperate with him. Afterwards, Javed and Mumtaz called Francis Masih and threatened him that if he made further contact with the police, they would kill Asiya Masih. They also told Francis that if he wants his daughter back, he would have to give them a written document which promised he would take no legal action.

Afterwards with the help of our people on the ground, Francis Masih got his daughter back on the 22nd of November but the Paish Imam of the local mosque announced yesterday that because Asiya Masih was converted to Islam, she cannot live as a Christian again. If she does not follow the Religious customs of Islam, she and her family will face the consequences. He also announced that all eight Christian families of the village should be banished and their homes burnt. Today, at 5:00 P.M. they are holding a meeting of Muslim clerics in Chack No-198/EB District Vihari. Our agency on the ground is doing its best to help. The international community needs to raise their voices for the defenseless Christian Girls and women in Pakistan.

Blessings

(Asiya Masih)