Pakistan: Christian housemaid allegedly raped by Muslim employers son

A Christian housemaid in the district of Kasur, near Lahore, has accused the son of her Muslim employer of raping her.

According to a report by Assist News Service, Nabeela Masih told Send the Light Ministries Pakistan (SLMP) that she had been raped by the man while she was cleaning a room and there were no others in the house in Kot Radha Kishan.

“He locked the room and raped me and when I tried to shout, he beat me. I later told his mother about this incident but she sent her son to some other city for two months,” she told SLMP.

She told SLMP that she left her job after the alleged rape but was threatened with “dire consequences” by her employer if she did not return to work.

SLMP told ASSIST News Service that Nabeela and her family were forced to convert from Christianity to Islam and were forbidden from fasting during Lent by Nabeela’s employer. He reportedly told them they “worked slowly” when they fasted.

SLMP also reported that 25 men, including the alleged rapist’s younger brother, turned up at Nabeela’s family’s home “armed with clubs” and “tortured” them.

“Nabeela sustained a nasty head injury and the family rushed her to a nearby hospital to get some treatment,” a SLMP spokesperson told ANS. “However, the hospital authorities then refused to issue medical certificate because of the influence of the landlord.”

CLAAS said the case highlights the vulnerability of domestic workers in Pakistan. In January, 12-year-old Christian domestic servant Shazia was murdered by her Muslim employer. CLAAS has been locked in a legal wrangle with the law courts ever since in a bid to ensure that her killers do not walk away from their crime scot free.

CLAAS UK Coordinator Nasir Saeed said: “The report of Nabeela’s rape is deeply concerning. The fact is that Christian girls working as domestic servants in the homes of Muslims are incredibly vulnerable.

“Their vulnerability stems from a culture of tolerance towards the mistreatment of Christians in Pakistani society, only reinforced by aspects of the penal code – such as the blasphemy laws - that elevate Islam above other faiths, and authorities who turn a blind eye when Muslims insult, attack or even kill Christians.

“The government must make it absolutely clear that the discrimination and persecution of Christians is absolutely unacceptable. So far, they have failed to do this and tragedies like this are the result.”