Pakistani court allows marriage of kidnapped Christian girl because she had first period The Christian Post Samuel Smith February 11, 2020 https://www.christianpost.com/news/...i7fu--Q3wUs2BR0_YodUjNn9b5ZVbj5OQ5Agt5vVHYOw4 A court in Pakistan has ruled against the family of a kidnapped Christian girl who was forced into an Islamic marriage, saying in its decision that no law was broken if the girl had already had her first period. The Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need-Italy reports that the Sindh High Court in Karachi issued the Feb. 3 ruling in the case of 14-year-old Huma Younus, who was taken from her home on Oct. 10, 2019, and later married to a radical Muslim man. According to the charity, which is supporting the family, judge Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Irshad Ali Shah ruled that the Catholic girl’s marriage to her alleged abductor, Abdul Jabbar, is valid under Sharia law because the child has already had her first menstrual cycle. “Once again justice has been defeated and once again has been proved that our state does not consider Christians to be Pakistani citizens,” mother Nagheena Younus told Aid to the Church in Need-Italy after the hearing. Younus’ parents said their daughter’s marriage violates the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act forbidding the marriage of girls age 18 and younger. Although the law was passed in 2014, it has not yet been applied. “We hoped that the law could have been applied for the first time in this case,” lawyer Tabassum Yousaf was quoted as saying. “But evidently in Pakistan, these laws are formulated and approved only to improve the image of the country in front of the international community, [and to] ask for funds for development and trade Pakistani products on the European market for free.” Muslim-majority Pakistan ranks as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on the Open Doors USA 2020 World Watch List. As the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reports, it’s estimated that as many as 1,000 women and girls are forcibly converted to Islam each year in Pakistan, many of whom are kidnapped, married and subject to rape. Last year, Pakistan lawmakers rejected a national bill that would have raised the child marriage age to 18 after it was opposed by Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadari and other officials. According to Aid to the Church in Need, Younus was due to appear in court during last Monday’s hearing, as was requested during a previous hearing held on Jan 16. However, Younus was not present for the hearing. The judges ordered a medical examination of the child to verify her age, a request made by the family’s lawyer. However, Yousaf does not trust a fair examination will take place. “ It is clear that since [investigation officer Akhtar Hussain] is in charge, there is a high probability that the test results will be falsified,” the lawyer argued. “But we keep hoping that the girl’s minor age will be proven so that she could at least be entrusted to a center for women, and taken away from her rapist.” The next court hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 4. But even if the girl’s age can be verified, the decision to validate the marriage because of menstruation reduces the chance that Jabbar will be held to account for his actions, the charity reports. Nagheena Younus vowed to take the case all the way to the Pakistan Supreme Court if need be. “This morning’s sentence casts shame on the Pakistani judicial system,” ACN-Italy Director Alessandro Monteduro said in a statement. “It is unimaginable that Sharia can prevail over the law of the state. We express all our outrage, but we won’t give up for Huma and the over a thousand girls that every year in Pakistan are kidnapped, raped, converted by force to Islam and forced to marry their kidnapper.” “Even today we have learned that all of that is legitimate, because in Pakistan even an 8- or 9-year-old girl can legally be given as a wife if she has already had her period,” he added. According to AsiaNews, the court allowed the child to file an affidavit declaring that she got married on her own free will. However, Yousaf contends that such an affidavit can't be filed legally until the child is presented with an identity card number at the age of 18. News of the judges’ ruling drew much criticism on social media. “Underage #Catholic girl Huma Younus & other girls can be married as long as they have had their first menstrual cycle, the High Court in #Pakistan ruled. This is so wrong and disgusting!” former European Parliament member Marijana Petir tweeted. “I urge the @EU_Commission and the international community to stop all relationship with Pakistan.” Popular Pakistani actor, writer and choreographer, Osman Khalid Butt, also voiced his dismay on Twitter. “I immediately Googled the Sindh Court ruling thinking there must be some mistake,” he wrote in a tweet. “How could they consider a marriage valid when it was done under duress, after an abduction & forced conversion? Boy, was I naive.” For the past two years, Pakistan has been labeled by the United States State Department as a “country of particular concern” for tolerating or engaging in severe violations of religious freedom. In addition to the tolerance of forced abductions and marriages as well as societal persecution against religious minorities, Pakistan is the world’s leader when it comes to the number of people imprisoned for blasphemy. According to blasphemy law critic Shaan Taseer, a son of the late Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, about 200 people or more are in jail in Pakistan on blasphemy charges with as many of 40 of them on death row.
Christianity is extinct throughout the Arab Islamic countries and the Middle East except in Israel where it thrives.
Another abduction: Her Name is Arzoo Raja. She is 13. She belongs to a religious minority group in Pakistan. On October 13, 2020, Arzoo was abducted and this was the end of her life as she knew it. Earlier in the year I wrote about other Pakistani religious minority girls sharing the same fate. Myra Shehbaz, 14 at the time of abduction. Huma Younus, 14 at the time of abduction. Mehwish, 14. Sana John, 13. Farzana and Sehrish, aged 14 and 16 respectively. Maria Sarfraz, 11. And the list goes on. Indeed, according to the Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP), a human rights organization in the country, around 1,000 Christian and Hindu women and girls are kidnapped each year, forced to convert and marry Muslim men. The victims are usually between the ages of 12 and 25. Despite these shocking statistics, the number of victims may be even higher as many cases remain unreported, often due to the girls' families' limited financial means. Allegedly, after Arzoo's abduction, she was forcibly converted and forcibly married to a man three times her age. Arzoo’s parents reported the crime to the police trying to seek legal recourse and get her back home. However, a few days after doing so, the Sindh Police presented them with a "conversion certificate" to suggest that Arzoo had converted voluntarily. While the voluntary conversion is highly questionable, the document does not deal with the important issue that Arzoo, who is only 13, could not be seen as having converted voluntarily. Indeed, in another case, Nasira v Judicial Magistrate, the Lahore High Court recognized that an under-age girl lacks legal capacity to convert. The Lahore High Court decided that the young girl who was barely 14, "As she is not sui juris she lacks legal capacity to change religion on her own. However, the question of faith being a matter of heart and one’s conviction, no Court can declare her conversion invalid or void. It can only refuse to recognize or give effect to it for certain legal purposes. The Petitioner being the lawful guardian of Pumy Muskan is entitled to her custody. There is no reason to deprive her of that right." Arzoo's parents proceeded to the Sindh High Court. There another issue emerged, that the marriage certificate suggests that she is 18. This was despite the fact that Arzoo's family had her birth certificate showing she is 13, having been born in July 2007. Allegedly, the judge refused to look at the government registered birth certificate. Commenting on the case, Ambreen Qureshi, a barrister working on many such cases pro bono, has said "the law on child marriages (the Child Marriages Restraint Act) albeit present, has been totally disregarded. It seems that neither the police not the judiciary is inclined to recognize it. Arzoo has been sent away with the abductor in blatant violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, where she is being raped and will continue to be raped until the Court comes to a decision. What kind of justice is this? Protection of the child in such a case is the responsibility of the state. Despite having an alarming number of forced conversion cases, no steps have been taken by the government to protect our minorities. I suggest in all such cases of forced conversions/child marriage, state should, at the very least, take over the custody of the child, keep them at the child protection bureaus which are present in each province until the final decision of the case is made by the court." After pressure from campaign groups and a public outcry, on November 2, 2020, Shireen Mazari, Minister for Human Rights in Pakistan, posted on social media that the Sindh High Court has ordered Arzoo be recovered by police and moved into a shelter home. Arzoo will appear before the court on November 5, 2020, and will have her age determined. The next days will show whether Arzoo and her family will see justice being done. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaoch ... 61edab6263 "Another Girl, Another Abduction, Another Forced Conversion, Another Child Marriage", November 3, 2020, Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes.com
Not just in Pakistan... https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/20...ystemic-abduction-of-christian-girls-in-egypt 'Jihad of the Womb': Report Exposes Systemic Abduction of Christian Girls in Egypt A Christian watchdog group has shined the spotlight on the widespread practice of abduction and trafficking of Coptic Christian women and girls in Egypt and how they are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Coptic Solidarity was established in 2010 and is dedicated to achieving equal citizenship rights for the Copts in Egypt. They released the report "Jihad of the Womb: Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt" last Thursday. The report argues, "The capture and disappearance of Coptic women and minor girls is a bane of the Coptic community in Egypt, yet little has been done to address this scourge by the Egyptian or foreign governments, NGOs, or international bodies." CBN News Chief International Correspondent Gary Lane has covered the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt for many years. "Christian girls are often targeted by Muslim men in heavily Islamic countries like Egypt. Many are neighbors who charm impoverished Christian girls with kindness and gifts," Lane explained. "Attracted by the good looks and kindness of young Muslim men, the girls are lured away from their families based on empty promises of wealth and successful life. Some are raped and culturally that brings shame to their families. They see conversion to Islam and marriage as their only way out." The report also addresses the Egyptian government's lack of action and counters the government's blanket excuse not to scrutinize, for example by claiming that the women left their families voluntarily as a reason not to investigate their cases further. "Years ago I heard the story of an impoverished Christian girl who possessed just one dress to wear. Each day, she ate only one meal of rice and vegetables. One day, a handsome, young Muslim man gifted her with a dress and took her on a date for a meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He kidnapped the girl and she never returned to her family," Lane noted. A priest in the Minya Governorate told Coptic Solidarity at least 15 girls go missing every year in his area alone. His own daughter was nearly kidnapped had he not been able to intervene in time. "The large majority of these women are never reunited with their families or friends because police response in Egypt is dismissive and corrupt. There are countless families who report that police have either been complicit in the kidnapping or at the very least bribed into silence," according to the report. Lane confirms that the pattern of Egyptian authorities ignoring the plight of these Coptic Christian girls and their families. "Christians receive little help from Muslim law enforcement authorities—especially in small villages in Upper Egypt," he noted. "I met with the father of an abducted 15-year old. The poor Christian farm laborer discovered the identity of the kidnapper and his daughter's whereabouts. The man went to the police station to report what he had learned and asked the chief to help him rescue his daughter. The police chief slapped the Christian farm laborer's face and shouted, 'Do you think I have nothing better to do than to search for your infidel daughter!'"
Okay so what are you personally, going to do about this situation? Mind you, given the source I doubt the veracity Of the story but the question remains - what are you going to do to help this girl?
The following articles are being copied here in case the links ever stop working. The below article describes two cases of kidnapped girls. In one of them, the police were reluctant to help the family get their girl back, but the family prevailed and the kidnapper was finally put in jail. In the other story, the family was not able to get their girl back. Pakistan: Minor Christian girl abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, married off to abductor. Here is what we know so far 13 August, 2021 The Ghazi police registered a case on August 11 and nabbed the accused and his father, a week after the abduction. They were booked under Section 365(B) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for abducting the victim. On August 3, an underage Pakistani Christian girl was abducted from her home at around midnight while she was studying. The incident took place in the Mubin Banda area in Ghazi tehsil in the Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. As per reports, the victim's parents Noreen Maseeh and Francis Maseeh had filed a written complaint with the police on Wednesday (August 11). They informed that the girl was a student of Std 9 and was preparing for her exam when she went missing from the house at around 12:45 am. They have accused a local resident named Zulqarnain Zahid of orchestrating the abduction along with the son of a leader from the ruling PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) party. The girl's parents lamented that the PTI leader had assured the early return of the victim but did not keep his promise. Instead, he hurled abuses at them and asked to compromise. Noreen Maseeh, the mother of the Christian girl, said that she learnt about her daughter’s court marriage with her abductor on August 9. A local resident, named Akhtar Shah, had revealed that the girl had also converted to Islam. As per Maseeh, the girl was born on January 10, 2007, and thus only 14.6 years old. Victim's mother accuses the police of siding with the perpetrator She informed, "My daughter is a minor child, who can't be married off under the law." Noreen Maseeh alleged that the Ghazi police did not lodge a First Information Report (FIR) initially and also claimed that she eloped on her own, willingly converted to Islam to marry her perpetrator. She accused the cops of siding with the perpetrator and asking her to not pursue the case further. Noreen Maseeh had also demanded protection for her family members and relatives. Ghazi police alleged that the complaint by the victim's family was 'ambiguous' While speaking about the matter to Dawn, Station House Officer (Ghazi Police) Shafiqur Rehman claimed that the complaint was filed after 6 days of the abduction. He alleged that the complaint was ‘ambiguous as the couple did not name anyone directly. He claimed that the marriage was ‘solemnised’ in Swabi following the girl’s wilful conversion to Islam but conceded that he did not receive the documents. Rehman also alleged that the Christian couple was summoned to the police station thrice to name the accused in the case. Nonetheless, the Ghazi police registered a case on August 11 and nabbed the accused and his father. They were booked under Section 365(B) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for abducting the victim. The cops added that the girl was recovered while the accused and his father were arrested. Court remands accused and his father to custody, sends victim to shelter home On Thursday (August 12), a local court in the Swabi district sent the victim to a shelter home (Darul Aman). It had also remanded the accused and his father to jail. The verdict came after the police produced the girl before the Magistrate. The abducted 14-year-old Christian girl claimed that she had married the accused on her own accord without any force or temptation. Reportedly, she had also expressed her desire to stay with her ‘husband’. The girl’s parents informed that the medical certificate, which claimed that the victim had attained puberty, was fake. According to the marriage certificate presented in court, the girl was married to the accused on August 7. Her dowry payment was fixed at PKR 4lac and four tolas of gold. She is slated to receive PKR 15,000 in the case of a marital dispute. Father of four abducts and marries 13-year-old Christian employee In yet another case of religious persecution and sexual crimes against children, a 13-year-old Pakistani Christian girl Nayab Gill was abducted from Gujranwala Division located in Punjab, Pakistan, forcibly converted to Islam and married to an already married Muslim man who is a father of four girls. The incident took place in May this year. A video clip of her shattered and helpless parents had surfaced on social media, wherein they narrated their plight and pleaded for justice. The clip was shared by the Twitter handle Voice for Pakistan Minority on June 21. In the 2.16-minute video clip, the distressed mother and the father narrated how a man named Saddam deceived them on the pretext of offering their minor child a job and abducted her. He then brainwashed and converted her to Islam. Saddam, who already has three wives and four children, thereafter performed ‘Nikah’ with the 13-year-old Nayab Gill. The Pakistan court, on the other hand, without hearing the victim family’s plea or looking into the victim’s birth certificate, which clearly indicated the Nayab Gill was a minor, sent the teenager with her abductor. Pakistan: Minor Christian girl kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, married to abductor, parents say police and PTI leader ignored their plight (opindia.com) Lahore: Christians and Hindus against "religious fascism" and forced conversions to Islam by Jibran Khan 04/13/2012 Young Christian and Hindu women are being abducted, forcibly converted and married off against their will. Young Christian men and boys are being forcibly circumcised. Young Hindu men are jailed for befriending young Muslim women. In the past five years, between 400 and 500 Christians have been forced to convert to Islam. "Several young Hindu women have been kidnapped from their homes in the dark of night, and dragged off to be forcibly converted to Islam. Usually, this conversion is accompanied by a signing of the nikahnama or marriage contract, which strengthens the kidnappers side of the story," said Dilip Kumar, a Hindu activist. The kidnappers want complete freedom to convert, but "We can't just sit back and watch what our community is going through," he added. Yesterday, together with dozens of Hindus and Christians and representatives of human rights NGOs, Kumar took part in a demonstration against the forced conversion of young men and women and the government's slow response to what has been called "religious fascism". "It is a shame that Christian and Hindu girls are kidnapped and forced to convert, in most cases they are latter sold in sex slavery / prostitution," said Fr John Mall. "This is becoming a hideous business and the authorities have kept a blind eye on the whole matter." He was referring in particular to the case of Rinkle Kumari, a young woman who was abducted, converted and forced to marry a Muslim. "Appearing before the court, Rinkle said: 'Kill me but don't send me back to prison or to the person who converted me.' What did the Supreme Court? Instead of allowing her to meet her family, she was sent to jail for three weeks to think about converting to Islam. Had she said that she had converted, the court would have sent her to her husband." "In the last five years, there have been up to 400 to 500 conversions of Christians," said Peter Jacob, national director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace. "And something equally horrifying: I know of forcible circumcision of young men in Punjab and one in Baluchistan. Where are we going, one asks?" "Two months ago, a Muslim girl became friends with three Hindu boys. The Muslim family got the boys arrested and the Hindu families killed. This is barbarianism," activist Diyal Singh said. PAKISTAN Lahore: Christians and Hindus against "religious fascism" and forced conversions to Islam (asianews.it)
racist nonsense. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_age_at_first_marriage Pakistan males 26, females 18.3, average 22.2 14 year olds can get married in the US. pot kettle.
