A case of abduction, rape and forced conversion of a minor Christian girl.
This tragic incident happened in February of 2017 in Village 66 JB Dhandhra, near Faisalabad Airport area. Charlotte (pronounced Sharlet in Urdu) lived in this village, near Faisalabad Airport with her mother, father, maternal grandmother and 6 brothers and sisters. Her father was a driver but fractured his spine in an accident and has been bed ridden since then. Her mother and maternal grandmother work as sanitary workers. Her two elder brothers aged 18, 20 do not live with the family and do not support the family financially.
Charlotte was 14 years at the time and on occasion, would go alone to her aunt’s home nearby. One day when she went, her aunt was not at home and the house was closed, so she went to the home of her aunt’s neighbor, Rukhsana. The neighbor told Charlotte to feel at home and wait for her aunt. Charlotte also borrowed Rukhsana’s cell phone to call her mother and inform her about the situation and tell her that she was waiting at Rukhsana’s home. Rukhsana also offered tea to Charlotte. Some intoxicated substance was mixed in the tea because as soon as Charlotte had drunk the tea, she felt dizzy and lost consciousness.
Rukhsana then called a Rickshaw driver and sold Charlotte to him. After paying the money he took the unconscious Charlotte with him to an unknown location.
Late that evening when she did not return home, her mother called her aunt and asked about Charlotte. Her aunt then called Rukhsana but was told that Charlotte left her place earlier and she did not know where Charlotte had gone. The family contacted the police to register the case but in vain. Three days passed without any news of the girl. The parents then asked the police to register a FIR, but the police did not respond. The families finally got the help of a local person of influence and the police then registered the case but did not follow it up. Meanwhile the case was reported in the media; civil society raised their voices, and the issue finally got attention. The case was then taken to the High Court and the apex court ordered the police to find and present the girl in court.
The police started searching for Rukhsana and arrested her. She confessed that she sold Charlotte for Rs. 70,000/. A man named Raphael was also found to have been involved, and with the help of Rukhsana and Raphael, the police arrested the rickshaw driver, who admitted that he had kept Charlotte for one month and raped her without her consent. After one month he had sold her to a person named Zafar Iqbal. It was Zafar Iqbal who forced her to convert to Islam and marry him but kept her locked in a house at an unknown location.
Police called her parents to the police station and informed them that the girl had converted to Islam, is now a Muslim and married to a Muslim man. The parents then demanded to see Charlotte to find out the truth, but when the Police kept creating hurdles the parents contacted the High Court. The police were again ordered to find the girl, and if unsuccessful, were warned they would face stern action.
The police raided Zafar Iqbal’s secret location, but the accused escaped before being arrested. Charlotte, unaware of what was happening outside but finding a cell phone being charged, hurriedly called her parents and told them the location of the house. Charlotte’s mother, along with some of the local people and the police, reached where she was being held and recovered their daughter.
