Pakistani Christian Housemaid Allegedly Raped by Her Master’s Son

She also sustained a ‘nasty wound’ in a later attack on her family

By Dan Wooding

04/29/2010 Pakistan (ANS)-Nabeela,a Pakistani teenage Christian housemaid, was allegedly raped by her master’s son and her family members were allegedly subjected to “torture” by some of “landlord’s men” some time after the alleged rape, on Sunday, April 11, 2010.

This shocking news was reported to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) by the Christian human rights group, Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP).

Mrs. Amber Soahil, Project Coordinator the SLMP, told the ANS that 18-year-old Nabeela, and her family members, had visited SLMP’s office “a couple of days ago to tell of their ordeal.”

During the visit, Nabeela and her family explained that they had been residing for 10 years in Kot Radha Kishan, in the district of Kasur, near the eastern city of Lahore .

They said that at least 20 Christian families reside in their village. The ministry told ANS that is has discovered that that the “Christians in the village are often maltreated at the hands of Muslims because of their poor socio-economic situation.”

According to the SLMP’s findings, Boota Masih, 40, Nabeela’s father, used to work in a factory in Lahore , but had lost his job a year ago and has been unemployed since that time. They also said that Nabeela, and her mother, Bushra, 38, “used to work” at the home of a Muslim man.

The alleged rape victim told SLMP that she had been working as a maid there “since childhood.”

“My masters would only give me 300 Pakistani rupees [about $3.57 US dollars] per month in return of all the drudgery I had to do,” she said.

Nabeela went on to claim that her master’s son had “raped me when he was alone in the house and I was cleaning a room.”

She went on to say, “He locked the room and raped me and when I tried to shout, he beat me. I later told his mother about this incident but she sent her son to some other city for two months.”

Nabeela told the SLMP caseworkers that she had left her job after the alleged rape had taken place and that her Muslim master has threatened her with “dire consequences” if she did not return to work.

According to SLMP, the landlord allegedly forced Nabeela and her family members to “convert to Islam from Christianity” and also “forbade Nabeela and her family members to fast during lent.”

Nabeela’s family members told SLMP that the landlord would say, “You ‘infidels’ work slowly during fasting.”

According to the SLMP, the younger brother of the son came to Boota’s house on April 11, 2010, with “25 men armed with clubs” and “tortured” family members.

“Nabeela sustained a nasty head injury and the family rushed her to a nearby hospital to get some treatment,” a SLMP spokesperson told ANS. “However, the hospital authorities then refused to issue medical certificate because of the influence of the landlord.”

Sohail Johnson, Chief Coordinator of the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan has told ANS that he condemned “maltreatment” of Nabeela and her family members, and is now calling for measures “to safeguard the rights of domestic workers.”