Pakistani Christian forced to convert to Islam, agency says

Woman was allegedly kidnapped and gunpoint and forced to marry Muslim man.

Pakistan:  A human rights organization in Pakistan said it is assisting a young Christian woman who was kidnapped and forced to marry and convert to Islam.

Lawyer Sardar Mushtaq Gill, head of Legal Evangelical Association Development, which offers free assistance to Christian victims of abuse, said the woman, Laveeza Bibi, 23, was kidnapped April 14.

Two armed Muslims stormed her family's house in Kasur in Punjab. The men allegedly threatened her parents and took the woman away. One of the kidnappers, Muhammad Talib forced the girl to marry him.

Laveeza's father, Sarwar Masih, immediately went to the local police station, but the police were initially reluctant to file a report, the association said.

A complaint was eventually filed against Talib following protests by local Christian leaders.

Gill told Fides, the Vatican news agency, this was not an isolated case.

"In April in the area of Kasur alone, five Christian girls were kidnapped and converted to Islam and forced to marry their captors," he said.

About 1,000 cases are registered every year, with many more unreported, the association said.

Source: UCAN