Global News - Redeem the Oppressed

Deaf-Mute Abducted Christian Girl Still Missing

Deaf-mute Christian girl abducted from Lahore’s Manga Mandi area. 15-year-old, abductee Muqaddas is missing while her family pines away in her absence. An FIR has been registered in the Manga Mandi Police Station.

The girl is still missing, as the police have failed to recover her. A local pastor intervened on behalf of the victim’s family and used his influence to get an FIR registered, invoking section of 365 of Pakistan Penal Code. Similar to such cases of abduction of minorities’ minor girls there are probabilities that the girl has been abducted for the sake of coercing her to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man.

Few days have already passed, and there is still no clue of the abductee. The local pastor who intervened in the case informed in a social media video that the investigating police officer had assured him to carry our swift and effective investigations in order to recover her. Moreover, he informed that the investigating officer, asserted that the case will be solved within a day.

On this occasion, a local Christian activist and journalist Saleem Iqbal urged the higher authorities, Supreme Court, and the government to take effective action in order to prevent abductions of the Christian girls. The wave of recent incidents of abduction of deaf-mute Christian girls has left Christians apprehensive. Recently, in a different incident, a 22-year-old deaf-mute Christian girl was abducted from Lahore’s Fazalia Colony. Mr. Saleem Iqbal said that the courts convene hearing even at the night time for cases of supreme importance. He said that courts must convene cases of abduction of Christian girls in the same manner, prioritizing their recovery and that justice should be served to the perpetrators.  

By Farrukh Saif

Farrukh Saif is a Pakistani human rights activist based in Germany. He founded his own organization, the Farrukh Saif Foundation (FSF), in 2009 with the goal of supporting marginalized and oppressed minorities in Pakistan who are affected by religious discrimination, blasphemy laws, forced conversions, abductions, rape, and bonded slavery. The main focus of the FSF is on the liberation of bonded laborers, particularly those working in brick kilns in rural areas of Pakistan. In 2018, the FSF merged with the US-based Emergency Committee to Save the Persecuted and Enslaved. Throughout his career, Farrukh has been a leading voice for the rights of minorities in Pakistan and has gained international attention for his campaigns against the misuse of blasphemy laws and the belief that asylum is not a crime. In 2014, he played a key role in the release of hundreds of asylum seekers from Thai jails and has worked with his legal team to save numerous victims of strict blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Farrukh has also been invited by the Hungarian government to discuss his work and the issues he addresses. In addition to his work with the FSF, Farrukh has also been involved in various other humanitarian efforts, including providing health care services to internally displaced persons in Khayber Pakhtoon Khawa in 2009 and assisting flood victims in Sindh and Punjab in 2010. He has worked to aid victimized minorities in Pakistan and has a strong track record of successfully advocating for their rights. Farrukh joined forces with Keith Davies in 2018 to co-found the Emergency Committee to Save The Persecuted and Enslaved, and since 2009, they have collectively successfully rescued more than 36000 individuals from slavery and persecution.