Family of Christian woman kidnapped, sold into sexual slavery pressured to drop murder charges
LAHORE, Pakistan — A Muslim man in Pakistan who kidnapped and raped a Christian woman who died from her injuries is pressuring her family to drop the charges, sources said.
Salma Munir, 20, was held captive for five months before she was rescued in June, said Asif Khokhar, chief organizer of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance Movement.
Omer Khokhar, known as Khatri, a Muslim resident of her area in Ajnianwala village, Sheikhupura District, Punjab Province, kidnapped her in February, Khokhar said. Khatri saw Munir as easy prey because she was mentally handicapped and belonged to a vulnerable Christian family, Khokhar said.
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After abducting her, Khatri took her to Gujranwala city, where he repeatedly raped her, Khokhar said. Khatri then sold Munir to a brothel owner for 50,000 rupees ($179 USD), and the owner later returned her to Khatri, who sold her to another brothel in Hafizabad city for 70,000 rupees ($251 USD), Khokhar said.
When Munir disappeared in February, her family tried to get police to register a case, but they showed no interest in finding her, Khokhar said.
In June, Munir’s older brother was in Hafizabad for some work when he saw his sister traveling on a rickshaw with other women.
“He intercepted the rickshaw and rescued his sister, but the madam of the brothel managed to escape from the scene,” Khokhar said. “The youth brought the traumatized girl back to the family, but she was in a really bad condition, and her bleeding wouldn’t stop.”
Her family tried their best to obtain medical treatment for her, but she died after two days from injuries while in captivity, he said.
“Before dying, she told her family about Khatri and how he had exploited her and sold her into sex slavery,” Khokhar told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
When her father, Munir Masih, confronted Khatri, he denied the charge and instead accused the family of poisoning Salma to death, Khokhar said. The family then sought help from local Muslim elders, without success.
“Fearful for the security of his other children and having no hope of justice, Masih chose to keep silent about the incident and buried Salma quietly on June 25,” Khokhar said.
An emboldened Khatri 20 days later stopped Salma Munir’s younger sister, Nisha Munir, in the street as she was going to work and tried to kidnap her, he said. When she resisted, he threatened her that she would suffer the same fate as her sister if she did not surrender to his sexual demands, Khokhar said.
“When a terrified Nisha told her family about Khatri’s action, Masih decided that in order to save his younger daughter he must get Khatri punished for his crimes against Salma,” Khokhar said.
Masih contacted Khokhar for help, and with his support again made efforts to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Khatri. Police again initially failed to cooperate, Khokhar said.
Farooqabad police finally registered a FIR on July 27 and arrested Khatri after Khokhar requested that a Christian provincial lawmaker, Emannuel Athar Julias, help the impoverished family obtain justice.
The FIR includes charges for selling a person for prostitution, punishable by up to 25 years in prison, buying a person for prostitution, punishable by up to 25 years in pirson, murder, criminal intimidation, and sexual harassment of a woman, punishable by imprisonment of up to three years.
“Though the accused is now in custody, his family and friends are now threatening Munir Masih’s family to reach a settlement with them,” Khokhar said. “The security of the family is of utmost importance due to the sensitivity of the case, so we have relocated them to a safe location.”
The activist said that Salma Munir’s body was exhumed for forensic tests last week, and the family is awaiting the results.
“We are very hopeful that God will deliver justice to the poor Christian family, but at the same time we need support from the police and government to protect them from any attack by the accused side,” he said.
The family is extremely poor, earning a living cleaning farmhouses and homes.
“Now that they are forced to live in hiding, it has resulted in a severe financial crisis for them,” he said. “We are trying to support them as much as we can within our meager resources, but they would need financial help to pursue the case effectively.”
Pakistan is ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
Originally published at Christian Daily International–Morning Star News
