LAHORE, Pakistan — A Pakistani father is desperately searching for his teen daughter who was abducted March 11 and forced to marry her kidnapper and convert to Islam.
Salman Masih said his 15-year-old daughter Muskan was taken from their home in Tando Ghulam Ali in Sindh province. Masih reported this to police within an hour, but police delayed responding until the next day, he told the news services Christian Daily International and Morning Star News. He said he was told he must pay “fuel costs” of $1,793 (5,000 rupees) for the police.
Masih, a Catholic, said the abductor is Arsalan Ali, a Muslim in his 20s.
Masih had taken Muskan out of school for protection because she said Ali was harassing her. Masih now fears Muskan could eventually be trafficked.
Marriage recorded
The day of Muskan’s abduction, Ali filed documents that the two had married, that she is 19 years old and that she had converted to Islam, Masih said.
Luke Victor, Masih’s attorney, filed a challenge to the documents with the Sindh High Court.
“The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013 bars child marriage and mandates penal consequences for any adult person contracting, performing or facilitating the marriage of a child,” Victor told the news services.
The legal age for marriage in Sindh province is 18.
Pakistan is No. 7 on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
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