Kidnappers fight father for custody of his girls

CHOWK MUNDA, Pakistan — A Catholic father in Pakistan is in a legal battle with kidnappers for the custody of his preteen daughters, who allegedly have been forced to convert to Islam. A judge in Pakistan’s Punjab province ordered further investigation July 10 into the kidnapping of Saba Younis, 12, and Aneela Younis, 10, who went missing June 26 in the small town of Chowk Munda.

The kidnappers filed for custody of the girls at the local police house June 28, stating that the sisters had converted to Islam and their father no longer had jurisdiction over them. When the father of the two girls, Younis Masih, was summoned to the police house to testify, police initially refused to file a case, telling Masih to “remain silent” since the girls had embraced Islam.