- Jul 27, 2009
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A Christian mother-of-three was gang-raped after armed robbers discovered that she and her husband were Christians, Christian Daily International-Morning Star News (CDI-MSN) has reported.
Adnan Masih, a 34-year-old brick kiln worker in a village in Faisalabad District, said that he and his wife were headed home on a motorcycle on the night of March 25 when two masked gunmen stopped them.
‘They snatched my cell phone and some money at gunpoint and then started threatening me to give them more money,’ Masih told CDI-MSN. ‘When I told them that I was a poor Christian and an ordinary worker at a brick kiln, they started whispering something into each other’s ears.’
One of them then made a phone call, and a third man soon arrived on a motorcycle, he said.
‘One of them grabbed my wife’s arm and pulled her into a nearby sugarcane field while the other two men loosened the string of my shalwar [baggy pants] and used it to tie me to a tree,’ Masih said. ‘They then followed their accomplice into the field and took turns raping my wife.’
‘I do not have the words to express the helplessness and agony I felt during that time,’ Masih said. ‘After some time, my wife emerged from the field, her clothes torn and tears flowing down her face. She could barely walk due to the assault, but she slowly approached me and untied my hands. Both of us then just sat there together and cried our hearts out, our minds numbed by the trauma and unable to think anything.’
The assailants had damaged his motorcycle, so the couple had to walk the rest of the way home. When they finally arrived, their three children and other relatives were waiting for them in the courtyard.
‘We did not have the courage to tell them what had happened to us, so we just kept silent and went to our room,’ Masih said, adding that they passed the rest of the night thinking about the effect news of the incident would have on their family.
‘We then decided to pray and seek justice from God, which helped in comforting us and gave us hope,’ said Masih.
The next morning, he called the police helpline. ‘The police registered the case but took action only after the news broke on national electronic media the next day,’ he said. ‘Within a day, the police traced and arrested all three accused, as the Punjab chief minister had taken notice of the incident and ordered immediate action. The chief minister also sent the provincial police chief to our home, who promised us that the accused would be dealt with sternly.’
A Christian lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly, Ejaz Augustine, who played a key role in drawing the chief minister’s attention to the crime and monitoring police action, told CDI-MSN: ‘Minority women are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence as the perpetrators think of them as easy targets. Moreover, a majority of Christians living in Punjab are very poor and face several barriers in accessing justice.’
On March 27 Saima Riyasat, additional sessions judge of Pasrur, handed the country’s maximum punishment for murder to Muhammad Zubair for killing Farhan in November 2023, said Christian attorney Lazar Allah Rakha. The court imposed a fine of 500,000 Pakistani rupees (£1,400), he said.
The attorney lauded the victim’s father, Noor Ul Qamar, for remaining steadfast in the pursuit of justice for his son.
‘The family has faced immense pressure and threats from the convict’s family to reach a settlement, but they have shown exemplary courage and perseverance, and today God has served them with justice,’ Rakha said.
Ul Qamar said Zubair’s family had used various tactics repeatedly to intimidate and harass them into reaching a ‘compromise’ with them, which could have resulted in a pardon for the killer.
Four policemen remain deployed at the family’s home due to the threats Zubair’s family has issued, he added. Zubair has the right to appeal the sentence, but it may take two to three years before an appeal is set for a hearing before the high court, said Rakha.
(Source: Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)
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Adnan Masih, a 34-year-old brick kiln worker in a village in Faisalabad District, said that he and his wife were headed home on a motorcycle on the night of March 25 when two masked gunmen stopped them.
‘They snatched my cell phone and some money at gunpoint and then started threatening me to give them more money,’ Masih told CDI-MSN. ‘When I told them that I was a poor Christian and an ordinary worker at a brick kiln, they started whispering something into each other’s ears.’
One of them then made a phone call, and a third man soon arrived on a motorcycle, he said.
‘One of them grabbed my wife’s arm and pulled her into a nearby sugarcane field while the other two men loosened the string of my shalwar [baggy pants] and used it to tie me to a tree,’ Masih said. ‘They then followed their accomplice into the field and took turns raping my wife.’
Please pray for this Christian couple as they try to come to terms with the trauma they have suffered.
Adnan’s cries for help went unheard, and after the assault the men left the scene hurling threats, he said.‘I do not have the words to express the helplessness and agony I felt during that time,’ Masih said. ‘After some time, my wife emerged from the field, her clothes torn and tears flowing down her face. She could barely walk due to the assault, but she slowly approached me and untied my hands. Both of us then just sat there together and cried our hearts out, our minds numbed by the trauma and unable to think anything.’
The assailants had damaged his motorcycle, so the couple had to walk the rest of the way home. When they finally arrived, their three children and other relatives were waiting for them in the courtyard.
‘We did not have the courage to tell them what had happened to us, so we just kept silent and went to our room,’ Masih said, adding that they passed the rest of the night thinking about the effect news of the incident would have on their family.
‘We then decided to pray and seek justice from God, which helped in comforting us and gave us hope,’ said Masih.
The next morning, he called the police helpline. ‘The police registered the case but took action only after the news broke on national electronic media the next day,’ he said. ‘Within a day, the police traced and arrested all three accused, as the Punjab chief minister had taken notice of the incident and ordered immediate action. The chief minister also sent the provincial police chief to our home, who promised us that the accused would be dealt with sternly.’
A Christian lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly, Ejaz Augustine, who played a key role in drawing the chief minister’s attention to the crime and monitoring police action, told CDI-MSN: ‘Minority women are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence as the perpetrators think of them as easy targets. Moreover, a majority of Christians living in Punjab are very poor and face several barriers in accessing justice.’
Christian’s killer sentenced
The man convicted of the murder of 20-year-old Pakistani Christian Farhan Ul Qamar has been sentenced to death by a judge in Sialkot district, CDI-MSN has reported.On March 27 Saima Riyasat, additional sessions judge of Pasrur, handed the country’s maximum punishment for murder to Muhammad Zubair for killing Farhan in November 2023, said Christian attorney Lazar Allah Rakha. The court imposed a fine of 500,000 Pakistani rupees (£1,400), he said.
The attorney lauded the victim’s father, Noor Ul Qamar, for remaining steadfast in the pursuit of justice for his son.
‘The family has faced immense pressure and threats from the convict’s family to reach a settlement, but they have shown exemplary courage and perseverance, and today God has served them with justice,’ Rakha said.
Ul Qamar said Zubair’s family had used various tactics repeatedly to intimidate and harass them into reaching a ‘compromise’ with them, which could have resulted in a pardon for the killer.
Four policemen remain deployed at the family’s home due to the threats Zubair’s family has issued, he added. Zubair has the right to appeal the sentence, but it may take two to three years before an appeal is set for a hearing before the high court, said Rakha.
(Source: Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)
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