A Christian woman who was abducted, raped and forcibly married to a Muslim man in Pakistan has escaped.
Fouzia Sadiq, 30, was sold into slavery for £30 and remained in bonded labour to Muhammed Nazir until she escaped on Wednesday with the help of the British-Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA).
Fouzia's family were similarly enslaved under the same agreement signed by her grandfather. The buy out clause for each individual was £1,000.
As a result, "generation after generation of this family have been subjected to this illegal working agreement unable to pay the extortionate price for their freedom", according to a statement from BPCA.
Under the agreement, Fouzia was forced to clean Nazir's property daily. While performing this duty one day, she was abducted and held captive for two days, before being returned to her family. When her brother, Paris, inquired where she was he was rebutted "aggressively" according to the statement.
The family were then told Fouzia had married Nazir and she was his property.
However on Wednesday she escaped and is now in a safehouse in Pakistan with her brother, according to BPCA. She has also been reunited with her three young children and has requested a humanitarian visa to enable her to migrate to the West.
"God has worked a miracle," said Paris. "I never thought I would see my sister again!
"Our whole family has grieved her loss as if she was dead. Now she is free we will do whatever we can to make sure she is not forced backed into the depravity her Muslim captor subjected her to.
"We ask for the prayers and support from Christians everywhere," he added.
"There is a huge injustice happening in Pakistan and if you do not protect us and ignore our plight one day it could be your daughters and sisters that are trapped. I pray Christians respond to our pain and offer help as we are desperate and need your assistance."
Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA, said: "The pain felt by our sisters in Pakistan wounds the heart of our community. Fouzia Bibi was a mother of three yet she may still be forced to remain in the forced Islamic marriage despite existing legal precedents."
He urged the British Embassy in Islamabad to help and said: "Fouzia and her family simply have to be removed from Pakistan and granted safety in another country."
