LAHORE, Pakistan — Police rescued a 12-year-old Catholic girl who had been abducted two months prior by a neighbor and forced to convert to Islam and to marry the captor.
Police on March 5 raided a structure in Shaheed Benazirabad city in Pakistan’s Sindh province and rescued the girl. Muhammad Ali, the 35-year-old captor, was arrested, reports Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. The girl was kidnapped Jan. 5 from her home in Walton Model Colony No. 2 in Punjab province.
RELATED: Check out more stories on the persecuted church.
Her abductor falsified a certificate, claiming that the girl had converted to Islam. He also obtained a sham marriage, saying she was 18, a rights advocate told the news outlets.
The girl said she was beaten and kept in a locked room.
Another Catholic girl who was kidnapped in Pakistan, forced to convert to Islam and to marry her captor was able to escape, only to be abducted again. The 15-year-old initially was kidnapped March 11, 2024, by Arsalan Ali in Karachi, states her father.
The girl got away Dec. 15. However, Ali kidnapped her again Feb. 18 from the home of one of her relatives in Tando Ghulam Ali in Sindh province, the news outlets state. As of March 3, she had not been reunited with her family.
World Watch
Pakistan is No. 8 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
Share with others: