Orthodox Christians in Pakistan are under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Singapore and South Asia, which comprises all the Orthodox Communities, Parishes, Foundations and Philanthropic Projects in Singapore, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Brunei, Timor, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as well as Pakistan.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, see here.
“Muslim, Police in Pakistan Beat and Confine Pregnant Christian,” Morning Star News, May 26, 2023:
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Christian housecleaner in Pakistan was beaten and illegally confined for a week by her Muslim employers after she tried to leave her job due to pregnancy, she said.
Asma Gulfam, a 28-year-old Catholic maid in the Paka Ghara area of Sialkot District, Punjab Province, said she had worked for Huda Adnan for five years. Gulfam said that in early April she informed Adnan that she was five months pregnant and could not continue working due to a medical condition, but Adnan said she had to remain.
On April 18, Adnan accused her of stealing 1 million rupees (US$3,490) that had been left in a bathroom some days prior, Gulfam said. When she denied it, Gulfam said, Adnan dragged her into a room where a police assistant sub-inspector, Ijaz Ahmed, and three other policemen were waiting with Adnan’s husband, Mian Adnan.
“As soon as they saw me, the policemen led by Ijaz started hurling abuses and curses at me,” Gulfam told Morning Star News. “They threatened to tear my clothes if I did not admit to the alleged theft, but when I refused, they pulled my hair and started beating me up mercilessly. During the torture, Ijaz also tried to pull my nails.”
They ignored her cries that she was innocent, Gulfam said. She began bleeding from the uterus due to the blows to her abdominal area, but the policemen and her employer’s husband continued hitting her, Gulfam said.
“I cried and screamed for help, but no one came to rescue me,” she told Morning Star News. “I have worked in that house for so many years, and not once had the couple accused me of any wrongdoing. I worked very hard and honestly, because for me this was a good testimony of my Christian faith.”
The mother of five children including the unborn said they held her against her will for eight days and repeatedly beat her.
“I was held hostage in Huda’s house all this time during which I was repeatedly tortured,” she said. “My assailants rebuked me for being a Christian and said no one could save me from them until I confessed to the false allegation.”
When her husband, rickshaw driver Gulfam Masih, went to Civil Lines police station to report her missing, officers arrested him, she said.
“They kept him in illegal confinement for a week and released him on April 26, only after my health worsened,” she said.
Her husband rushed her to a government hospital, where a medical examination showed that she had been physically abused.
“My unborn child’s life was at serious risk due to internal hemorrhaging, but doctors managed to save it,” she said.
Asma Gulfam said that as soon as she was able, she went to police, reporting the brutality and illegal confinement to a Sialkot District police officer on May 10. The District Police Officer ordered an investigation, but officers dismissed her complaint without even questioning her, she said….
