Christian Mother of 3 Kidnapped, Forced into 'Islamic Marriage'
- Carrie Dedrick
- Updated Jul 30, 2015
![Christian Mother of 3 Kidnapped, Forced into 'Islamic Marriage'](https://i.swncdn.com/media/700w/crosswalk/resource/areas/crosswalk/resources/images/defaultimages/article-large-landscape.png)
A Pakistani Christ mother of three children has reportedly been kidnapped and forced into an “Islamic marriage.”
Christian Today reports Fouzia Sadiq, a bonded laborer was taken by her Muslim landlord on July 23. The next day, Sadiq’s family was told she had converted to Islam and was married to her landlord Muhammed Nazir.
Sadiq’s family have been moved to a safe house but the British Pakistani Christian Association says police have refused to investigate the incident.
Sadiq’s sister, Iqra, said, "My sister has been missing for five days and police are refusing to register an FIR [First Incident Report], my heart is broken.”
"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."
"Fouzia Bibi was a mother of three yet she may still be forced to remain in the forced Islamic marriage despite existing legal precedents from Lahore High court which clearly state that a 'married Christian woman cannot be remarried to a Muslim even if converted'," he said.
"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."
The BPCA says kidnapping and forced conversions are common in Pakistan, though they receive little media attention. If police do pursue investigations, woman are often forced to claim their conversion was voluntary.
BPCA Chairman Wilson Chowdhry said, "The authority of a Muslim man's words significantly outweighs that of Christians, so they have little hope of ever retrieving Fouzia from a life of pain, brutality and debauchery."
Publication date: July 30, 2015