Pakistani Christian girl enslaved by police officer, burned alive

March 23, 2010

A Christian girl from the eastern Pakistani city of Sheikhupura was enslaved by a Muslim police officer and burned alive. “The girl had been enslaved by a woman, Sama, a ‘dealer’ of youth sold as prostitutes or slaves to wealthy Muslim families,” according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. “Once she convinced Kiran's mother (with false promises and illusions) to take her, Kiran was forced to file a complaint against her own parents (for non-existent violence), threatening that otherwise they would be killed.”

The Fides report continues:

Kiran, who was pregnant and in a state of extreme despair, had the courage to tell the police of her story, but the police, supporting Raza, did not register any complaint. When Raza heard of the event, he did not hesitate to kill her himself, burning her alive.

In response to this and other recent incidents of anti-Christian violence, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan has set up a hotline for religious minorities to report violent persecution to his office.

 

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Further information:

• “Hotline” for religious minorities with President Zardari: Christians report two serious cases of violence (Fides)
• Sheikhupura (Wikipedia)
• Pakistan: rape and torture are penalty for Christians' failure to renounce faith (CWN, 3/22)