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Murder of Christian woman another case of persecution in Pakistan, rights group says

A Christian rights group focused on religious persecution in Pakistan have condemned the killing of a Christian woman who reportedly refused to marry a Muslim man.

In a report, the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) said a Christian woman identified as Sonia Bibi, 24, was fatally shot on Nov. 30, allegedly by a Muslim man for refusing to marry him.

Sonia’s father Allah Rakha Masih, who works as a janitor, said the Muslim man called Muhammad Shahzad had been harassing Sonia for the past five months, said the report released Dec. 7.




Shahzad even proposed to Sonia, but even after her refusal he continued following her and insisting that she marry him.

Masih said Sonia kept on telling Shahzad that it is impossible for them to get married because of the difference in their religion.

CLAAS said that Shahzad even sent his parents to Sonia’s home to convince her parents to agree to the marriage. “But I told them that it is not possible as we are Christian, and you are Muslim,” said Masih.

The rights group said that police have registered a case against Shahzad, but he is still at large.

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Nasir Saeed, CLAAS director, said what happened to Sonia is not the first case of this nature and he gave other examples of Christian women being murdered such as Asma Yaqoob, 24, who died in a Lahore hospital in 2018 after being attacked by a Muslim man.

“There are dozens of examples of such brutal acts of violence against Christians girls, normally they are asked to convert and marry them (Muslim men) and when the Christian girls refuse they are kidnapped, forcefully converted to Islam, and married to the men,” he said.

Saeed said that a record number of forced conversion and forced marriage cases have been recorded in the past year.

He alleged that authorities “usually side with the kidnappers and courts, and instead of following the law decide cases in favor of Muslim perpetrators.”

“It is sad as the government of Pakistan is aware of this problem but is not taking any action to stop this ongoing persecution of Christians and Hindu girls,” Saeed added.

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