Christian Woman Kidnapped in Pakistan Escapes - June 4, 2010

A Christian woman in Pakistan who was kidnapped, forced to marry a Muslim farmer and told to convert to Islam amid a dispute over a loan, returned home this week after weeks of “captivity and torture.”

Sania James, 33, was kidnapped April 5 by armed men who stormed her parent’s house, neighbours confirmed. The gunmen allegedly told her father that he would see his daughter again only if he paid off a loan of 250,000 rupees (CAN $3000) plus 30% interest – a rate much higher than previously agreed upon.

“I was tortured, forced to convert and forcefully married,” said James, who escaped earlier this month.   She refused to convert to Islam and was continuously tortured.  “One night I managed to escape and returned home,” she said. “I contacted Christian rights groups to help me.”  Neighbours who said they watched the kidnapping said they were unable to intervene.

The kidnapping came five years after the woman’s father  allegedly took a loan from  his long-time employer  to pay for his oldest daughter’s wedding. Hewas initially told that the interest rate on the loan would be 15% but the rate was later doubled, family members said.   He was allegedly told  that his family would be attacked unless he paid off the loan within two months.

In a bid to raise the money, Sania James said she had begun to work on the farm along with her elderly, impoverished father. James said that her father was “thrown out of the farm,” and that she was subsequently kidnapped.  Police officials reportedly said they were unable to halt the alleged kidnapping as the owner was a very influential man.

“I am shocked that a daughter of a poor man has been kidnapped, and the law can’t do anything,” said a local pastor.   The kidnapping was not an isolated incident, according to rights activists. They have expressed concerns that Christian women and girls have been kidnapped across Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation, often amid disputes over land and money.

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