Police vehicles in Pakistan. (Akash0078, Creative Commons)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A Christian mother of five children in Pakistan was raped at gunpoint by a Muslim who had been harassing and pressuring her to convert to Islam and marry him, her husband said.
The 36-year-old woman was alone in her house in Chak No. 134/16L village in Mian Channu, Khanewal District, Punjab Province, on June 11 when Rashid Anwaar intruded through an open door at around 3 p.m., said her husband, brick kiln worker Indrias Paulus.
Their house is located across a field from Anwaar, Paulus said.
“He would often harass my wife to convert and marry him whenever she went outside,” Paulus told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “We repeatedly complained to Rashid’s family to stop him from harassing her, but he did not stop.”
On the day of the assault, their children had gone to their grandparents’ home, leaving the main door open, he said. His wife, whose name is withheld as a rape victim, was unwell and was resting in a room.
“She came to know about Rashid’s presence in the room when he locked the door from inside,” Paulus said. “He took out a pistol and threatened to kill her if she raised her voice. She tried to escape, but he tore her clothes and raped her on gunpoint.”
Paulus and his wife’s brother, Pervaiz Wilson, arrived at the house from the brick kiln where they work to have lunch, he said.
“I was surprised to see the main door open,” Paulus said. “As soon as we stepped inside, we heard her cries coming from a room which was locked from the inside. We started thumping the door, asking her to open it. We were taken aback when Rashid opened the door brandishing a pistol in his hand.”
Anwaar pointed the gun at them and told them to move aside, he said.
“He then scaled the dilapidated thatched boundary wall of the house and fled, but his cellphone fell on the ground,” Paulus said. “Pervaiz and I ran after him, but he took off on a motorcycle driven by an unknown man, leaving his own motorcycle behind.”
Going back inside, they found his wife trembling. Paulus immediately called police, and officers later arrived and took Anwaar’s phone and motorcycle. Police took them to the station and registered a case against Anwaar and his unknown accomplice and then took Paulus’ wife to the district hospital for medical examination.
Slowness to apprehend Anwaar, however, helped him to obtain pre-arrest bail from a court, he said.
“The police did not make any serious attempt to arrest Rashid, and he was able to get temporary relief from the court,” Paulus said. “He was finally arrested three days after the incident, but the police did not inform us about his arrest despite our repeated pleas.”
With the help of rights activist Joseph Janssen, they were finally able to confirm Anwaar’s arrest, he said. Anwaar appeared in court on Saturday (June 20), where a judge dismissed his pre-arrest bail and remanded him to police for further investigation.
“We are now pressing the police to take Rashid to Lahore for getting his DNA matched with the samples taken from my wife’s body so that the chargesheet could be filed soon,” Paulus said.
His wife said she cries all night and cannot sleep.
“I’m afraid to step outside,” she told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “For over a year, Rashid harassed me – trying to force me to convert and marry him. He threatened me constantly, but no one intervened because of his influence.”
The impoverished woman said the assault has also distressed her children and that it was hard for her to avoid the questions in their eyes.
“I have five children – three sons and two daughters,” she said. “My eldest son is 16 years old, and he keeps asking me what happened. How do I tell him that his mother has been violated by a man who believed that he had the power to fulfill his evil desires?”
Janssen, field officer of international advocacy group Jubilee Campaign, is assisting the family.
“The case is a tragic but familiar reminder of the dangerous intersection of gender-based violence and religious persecution,” Janssen told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Sexual violence against minority women is not rare – it’s a systemic human rights emergency that is often met with silence and inaction.”
Janssen said such minority women are disproportionately vulnerable, not only because of their gender but because of their faith and economic status.
“These women are isolated, marginalized and viewed as disposable,” he said. “In a society dominated by patriarchal and religious majoritarian structures, their safety is secondary. This is not just rape – it’s armed assault and a hate crime.”
A dedicated legal team is representing her will take the case even to high courts if necessary, he said.
Pakistan, whose population is more than 96 percent Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
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- Police vehicles in Pakistan. (Akash0078, Creative Commons)
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