Three Pakistani Muslims had accused a 12-year-old Christian girl at gunpoint from her home and threatened to sell her to sexual slavery, her parents said.
Sumela Gurzar, a Catholic resident in the village of Chak 55/2L in Okala district of Punjab, said his daughter Aliha was on January 20th, Sajad Baroque, a 40-year-old neighbor known as Sajad Baroque. He said he was accused of Baroque. After two accomplices forced them towards the house.
Gulzar says he tried to stop the temptation but they forced Ariha to take him away in a white car.
“I immediately contacted the Baroque family and they asked me to give them two or three days to recover my daughter from his custody,” Gulzar said. He told Star News for Daily International Morning. “The next day I got a call from Baroque, where he raped Aliha and threatened to sell her to a sex trafficker if we pursued the issue.”
The family once again appealed to the Baroque family to persuade them to return the alias, but to no avail. On January 24th, they were shocked to learn that Baroque families disappeared after locking up their homes and forced them to seek police help.
Gulzar Masih, the girl’s father, said they lacked financial resources to prosecute — the Baroque has a criminal reputation in the community due to financial constraints, but last year they were able to sue Aliha was forced to take him out of school.
“Baroque is a criminal known in our area, but we are extremely poor and vulnerable people,” Masi told Star News for Christian Daily International Morning. “We didn’t have the resources to bribe the police or go to court, so we tried to restore Aliha through our Baroque family.”
More than a week after contacting police, officers were unable to find her, he said.
“We visit the police station every day and hope to get information about the kids, but so far there have been no breakthroughs,” Masi said.
Sending police officers and Punjab government for the recovery of their daughter, Masi becomes a victim of sexual exploitation through forced conversion to Islam and an unwilling marriage to a man three times her age He expressed concern that it could be possible.
“Baroque could also sell Aria to sex traffickers if police don’t act quickly and recover her,” he said. “I appeal to the government to ensure protection and safe recovery for my daughter, and I guarantee severe punishment for all those who violate her.”
Joseph Jansen, field officer for the advocacy group Jubilee Campaign, said there was a police first hesitation stemming from a lack of faith in the justice system, which has been exacerbated by widespread poverty, discrimination and general neglect by local governments.
“We are committed to supporting families in the justice and recovery of minor children,” he said, adding that the group is providing legal assistance to families.
Janssen highlighted the disturbing patterns of acquiring or seduction and forced conversion/marriage of girls from a minority religious community in Pakistan with 96% Muslims.
“Whether a girl was accused or willing to go, these are unequal relationships that we see many times when minor Christian girls are severely abused and even trafficked. “Morning Star New.” “These practices expose girls to severe physical and psychological trauma.”
A lack of effective legal protection and a culture of immunity for perpetrators exacerbate the vulnerability of these girls and women, he added.
“Pakistan must fulfill its international obligation to combat discriminatory practices against girls and women, and ensure their safety and dignity,” he said. He called on the government to criminalize child marriage, enforce religious conversion, and enforce laws to ensure prosecution.
There is no progress in the law
A bill to criminalize child marriages is pending in Punjab Parliament from April. The bill aims to increase the age of marriage for both boys and girls in Punjab to 18 years.
With approval of the bill pending, the minimum age for a girl to marry is still 16 years old. Nationally, the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act sets the age at which Christians can marry at 18 years old. If they convert to Islam, the girl is thought to be Muslims under Sharia (Islamic law).
Usually, a Pakistani tempted girl is also accused of young people as young as 10 years old, converted to Islam, raped under a hidden gem of Islamic “marriage” and makes false statements in favour of the temptation. You will be pressured to record it, rights advocates say. The judge routinely ignores documentary evidence related to the age of a child and returns the temptation to the temptation as a “legal wife.”
Pakistan ranked 8th on the 2025 World Watchlist, where it’s the hardest place to become a Christian.
