By Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife International Correspondent with additional reporting by BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-– A Christian young woman who was forced to marry a Muslim man remained abducted in southern Pakistan Monday, November 5, while a pastor was told he would remain behind bars on charges of “blasphemy” in the latest incidents that have shaken the Islamic nation’s Christian minority, trials observers said.
Rebecca Masih, a 22-year-old Christian nurse, was abducted on her way to work in Sindh province before being forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man on October 2, according to local Christians.
Yet, Justice Naamatullah Phulpoto rejected requests of Rebecca’s father Younis Masih and his lawyer, Mukesh Kumar, to return the girl to her Sukkur city home.
Instead, she was instructed to go home with her Muslim kidnapper-turned-husband, Manzar Daharand, Christians said. The court adjourned the case to early November as Rebbecca remained silent during court proceedings.
A leading rights investigator suggested she was feeling intimidated by a powerful legislator of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) who has been accused of kidnapping non-Muslim girls and attended last month’s hearing.
“FEUDAL LORDS”
The President of the Pakistan Christian Congress party, Nazir Bhatti, said in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife that non-Muslim girls are being abducted by PPP members and then “either forced to be sex-slaves of Islamic “feudal lords,” or sold in marriage to wealthy Muslims in Sindh”.
There was no immediate reaction from the PPP. The Washington-based International Christian Concern (ICC) advocacy group said Rebecca Masih is “among hundreds of Christian women and girls in Pakistan that have been abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and forced into marriage over the past several years.”
ICC said the kidnappings are often accompanied “by acts of extreme violence, including rape, beatings, and other forms of physical and mental abuse.”
News of Masih’s apparent kidnapping came while Christian pastor Karama Patras failed in his attempt to be released on bail after being accussed of “blasphemy against Islam.”
Patras was detained after police took him into what they called “protective custody” when a Muslim mob attacked his home in Sanghla Hill in central Punjab province.
PRAYER MEETING
The attack happened after Patras was holding an October prayer meeting in the house of a Christian family where the Islamic sacrifice feast, Eid-Ul-Adha, was discussed.
During the gathering someone reportedly asked what Eid-Ul-Adha’s offered meat meant to Christians.
Patras reportedly gave a Biblical answer, apparently quoting Corinthians 10:28-29: “But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness. “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?”
Muslim neighbors who overheard the discussion quickly told other Muslims, Christians said, adding that when Patras returned home, Imams used mosque loudspeakers to urge fellow Muslims to punish the pastor “for prohibiting Eid-Ul-Adha” to Christians.
After saying “Pastor Karma Patras is a blasphemer and infidel, liable to be killed,” hundreds of Muslims reportedly attacked Patras’ home.
POLICE DETENTION
Police initially rescued Patras from a mob that was seen beating him and destroying his household, but later charged the pastor under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws, rights activists said.
He is represented by human rights lawyer Tahir Naveed. The lawyer also defended a mentally challenged girl, Rimsha Masih, who was detained in August and could potentially face the death penalty for blasphemy.
There have been conflicting reports about her whereabouts after the 14-year-old girl was released on bail in September.
International rights groups have urged Pakistan to change blasphemy legislation and improve protection for Christians, who make up less than five percent of Pakistan’s mostly Muslim population of 180 million people.
YOU GUYS ARE LYING ON MUSLIMS AND ISLAM ALWAYS WRITING ARTICLES THAT REDUCES MUSLIMS TO NOTHING. ALWAYS PUTTING PICTURES THAT SEEMS SCARY TO PEOPLE WHILE IN FACT THOSE PEOPLE ARE VERY GENEROUS AND LOVING TO OTHERS. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH ISLAM ? DOES IT SCARE YOU BECAUSE OF ITS POTENTIAL? STOP BLASPHEMING ON MY RELIGION WITH NO KNOWLEDGE IM A WOMAN AND ISLAM GIVES THE WOMAN MORE RIGHTS THAN ANY OTHER WESTERN WOMEN. NEXT TIME THINK TWICE BEFORE WRITING PIECES OF LIES LIKE THIS ARTICLE.