Christians Under Attack

TARKHANI, Pakistan, (CDN) — A Muslim who allegedly confessed to
sexually assaulting five Christian girls raped a 10-year-old Catholic girl in
Punjab Province last month, according to her family.

Tarkhani police have charged 25-year-old Muhammad Aftab, also known as
Chandu, with raping a minor (section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code) in a sugar
cane field in Village 226-GB, according to First Information Report (FIR) No.
429 at the Tarkhani Police Station. Aftab has been arrested and remanded to
Central Jail Faisalabad.

Aftab allegedly raped the girl on Dec. 10, Abid Masih, a 31-year-old relative
of the girl, told Compass in village 226-GB, Tarkhani near Gojra.

“Though we had informed the Tarkhani police station, for a day we kept quiet
as the rapist had gone underground, and we waited for him to come out,” Masih
told Compass at his home. “When the rapist saw that no one has taken action
against him, he came out, and our girl immediately identified him.”

Masih said the girl, whose name is withheld, went to a nearby field with
7-year-old Sahil Abid to load sugar cane for transport to a processing plant.
The girl’s father, 55-year-old electrician Yousaf Masih, said that Aftab seized
her and rushed into the sugar cane fields.

“Sahil Abid started screaming for help, but no one was there to help him,”
Abid Masih said. “Therefore he came running to us and told us that a man
kidnapped her and has taken her to the sugar cane fields.”

Sahil took him and Yousaf Masih to the site, Abid Masih said.

“As we reached there, that man masked his face and disappeared into the dense
sugar cane fields,” he said.

Abid Masih took her to the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital, Samundri, he
said.

Family members said that doctors at Samundri THQ Hospital confirmed that the
girl was raped, and the FIR also notes that the medical report by doctors at the
hospital states that she was raped.

“SHO [the Station House Officer] pleas to the honorable Court of Law to
penalize the rapist/pedophile, who has confessed during interrogation to raping
at least five other little Christian girls before this sad incident,” the FIR
states. “The culprit is sent to Central jail Faisalabad under judicial remand on
the orders of the court and deserves exemplary punishment.”

Abid Masih and Yousaf Masih said that Sahil also was unable to see the
rapist’s face, but that the girl was able to recognize him because she had been
assaulted by him in the fields. They said she identified Aftab, the son of a
local land owner.

“It’s not the first time he has raped a minor girl,” Abid Masih said. “He has
raped at least five little Christian girls before this, but those families under
pressure kept their mouths shut, and Christians also tried to force us to keep
quiet and refrain from filing a police case, as they were fearful that it might
worsen the relations between Christian and Muslim villagers.”

Area sources said local Christians were angry with the family of
Yousaf Masih for taking legal action against the rapist, believing that
it would damage relations between Muslims and Christians