Yesterday a judge in
Pakistan’s Punjab
province ordered further
investigation into the
kidnapping of Saba
Younis, 12, and Aneela
Younis, 10, who went
missing on June 26 in
the small town of Chowk
Munda. The kidnappers
filed for custody of the
girls at the local
police house on June 28,
stating that the sisters
had converted to Islam
and their father no
longer had jurisdiction
over them.
When the father of the
two girls, Younis Masih,
was summoned to the
police house to testify,
police initially refused
to file a case against
the kidnappers –
Muhammed Arif, Abjad
Ali, taxi driver
Muhammed Asraf and an
unidentified fourth man
– who are known to
belong to a powerful
human trafficking ring.
Instead, human rights
activists told Compass,
Masih was told to
“remain silent,” as the
officers said the girls
had embraced Islam in a
written statement.
It was not until
yesterday that, with the
help of advocates and
the Human Rights and
Minorities Affairs
Ministry, Masih filed an
official complaint at
the local police house.
The lawyer of the
Christian family, Khalil
Tahir, said that the
kidnappers have likely
raped and sold the two
minors to a brothel.
Local residents regard
the men as serial
kidnappers.
Many details about the
condition and
whereabouts of the girls
remain unconfirmed, and
the family has not had
contact with them. Tahir
said the perpetrators
did not bring the
kidnapped girls forward
to the hearing
yesterday.
“Perhaps they have been
raped,” Tahir said.
“We’ve had no contact
with the girls.”
Tahir, a human rights
activist as well as a
lawyer, said that in
Pakistan minors cannot
be coerced into changing
their faith. Also a
member of the Provincial
Assembly, Tahir said
that if the District
Police Officer (DPO) did
not cooperate and file
the case in his station,
he would take immediate
action.
“I’m trying to contact
the District Police
Officer about the
registration of the
criminal case,” said
Tahir. “They have not
yet registered the case.
It is the duty of the
DPO to register the
case, but he’s failing
to perform his duty, so
I’m trying to contact
him or else I’ll take it
to the high court.”
Ashfaq Fateh, a
Christian advocate who
established contact with
Masih this week, said
that the girls’ Catholic
family had not received
threats for their faith.
He asserted, however,
that the kidnapping was
a religious matter.
“Being weaker and
belonging to the
Christian community, the
girls were kidnapped,”
he said.
Saba and Aneela Younis,
the youngest of eight
children, were kidnapped
while on their way to
see their uncle.
“The kidnapping of my
daughters has made me
feel insecure in the
country,” Masih told
Fateh in a telephone
conversation. “My Muslim
countrymen think we
[Christians] are not
human beings. They think
we do not have dignity.”
“This happens every
day,” Tahir said of the
kidnappings of Pakistani
children and unjust
treatment toward
Christians, “because we
are marginalized and
downtrodden people.”
