The terrified family of a Pakistani Christian woman who was reportedly abducted, raped and forced into an Islamic marriage by her Muslim landlord is demanding the young woman’s return.
Fouzia Sadiq, a married mother of three who is believed to be in her mid-2os, was allegedly abducted in Pattoki, Pakistan, on July 23, 2015, by Muhammed Nazir, 55, a landowner who “employed” her family, according to the British Pakistani Christian Association, an advocacy group.
“Muslim landlord Muhammed Nazir … employed the whole family, including the children in a form of modern day slavery, paying very little money and providing squalid shelter,” the organization said in a releasediscussing the sensitive matter. “The husband signed a contract with a thumbprint, unable to read it due to only 7 percent of Christians attaining an adequate level of literacy.”
An officer with the British Pakistani Christian Association prays with the family of Fouzia Sadiq (British Pakistani Christian Association)
An officer with the British Pakistani Christian Association prays with the family of Fouzia Sadiq (British Pakistani Christian Association)
After Sadiq went missing, her parents were reportedly told by Nazir’s brother that the young woman would be returned, but the next day family members were allegedly threatened with violence and told that she was now his property, had married him and accepted Islam.
“My sister has been missing for five days and police are refusing to register an FIR, my heart is broken,” said her sister Iqra Sadiq. “Our landlord is a cruel man and we have been starving since he stopped the little payment that was due to us. We have no power and have to face such injustice, please help us!”
A police officer reportedly refused to file a report on the matter when the family approached him, leaving them terrified.
The British Pakistani Christian Association is helping Sadiq’s family find a safe house and will also challenge local authorities to help find and secure the release of the woman. The group is currently searching for a Muslim who can represent the Christian woman in Shariah court.
An officer with the British Pakistani Christian Association prays with the family of Fouzia Sadiq (British Pakistani Christian Association)
An officer with the British Pakistani Christian Association prays with the family of Fouzia Sadiq (British Pakistani Christian Association)
Legal precedents in Pakistan make it clear that a married woman cannot be remarried to a Muslim man, even if she converts, a spokesperson for the British Pakistani Christian Association told the Christian Post.
“I fear for Fouzia and will pray endlessly for our sister as she has to fight a system set up to undermine Christians,”  Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, told the outlett. “When courts make judgements in these cases more often than not, they forgo the age limit allowing forcible marriages of girls under the legal age of 14, discounting family objections and basing decisions on the testimonies of weeping victims.”
Read more about the story here.