Christian Rape Victim in Pakistan Pressured to Withdraw Charges

The 26-year-old woman, a resident of Islamabad whose name is withheld as a rape victim, said Sub-Inspector Muhammad Mehboob was harassing and warning her to drop the charges against Raja Waleed and Shah Hussain, alias Badshah.

A 26-year-old Islamabad woman who has remained anonymous as a rape victim has accused Sub-Inspector Muhammad Mehboob of harassing her and pressuring her into dropping charges against Raja Waleed and Shah Hussain, also known as Badshah.

Blackmailing her into silence with mobile phone video recordings of the sexual assaults, Waleed and Hussain raped her multiple times over the past four months, she said.

Hussain borrowed a large sum of money from the woman’s mother in September. The following month, he told the young woman to accompany him to the home in Rawalpindi of a friend who would give him the money so he could repay her, she said.

As soon as Hussain left, his friend Waleed entered the room brandishing an AK-47 rifle, she said.

“He fired a bullet into the wall to scare me and then sexually assaulted me, disregarding my cries for mercy,” she said. “I cannot express the horror I suffered in those moments as my mind and body went completely numb. After assaulting me, Waleed made videos of me with his cell phone and threatened that he would share them on social media if I reported the incident to the police and did not surrender to his demands.”

The nightmare was only beginning, she said, as Waleed continued to blackmail her with videos, compelling her to meet with him repeatedly.

“I was completely helpless and had no choice,” she said. “My father has passed away, and I did not want my widowed mother to suffer the pain of my harrowing fate. Waleed also started forcing me to meet with his friends, threatening to release the videos if I did not comply with his wishes.”

In November, she found out that she was pregnant due to the repeated assaults; she said.

“When I told Waleed and Hussain about my condition, they forced me to convert to Islam at gunpoint,” she said. “When I resisted, Waleed attacked me with kicks and punches, resulting in a miscarriage.”

As the ordeal continued, she shared her plight with her mother.

“My mother broke down when she heard about my suffering, but she told me not to worry,” she said. “She then took me to the police station, where I narrated my story, showed evidence of the blackmailing, and filed a rape case against Waleed and Hussain. I also appealed to the police to recover the blackmail content from their phones.”

The charges were filed on Feb. 13, but instead of arresting the two suspects, police tipped them off, and they got pre-arrest bails, she said.

“Since that time, they have been threatening me and my mother to withdraw the case or face the consequences,” she said.

The victim said she registered another case against the two Muslims for threatening to kill her and her mother but that police have taken no action.

“Instead of giving me justice, the police investigating officer, Mehboob, is pressuring and intimidating me to withdraw the case,” she said. “He has repeatedly said that since I’m a Christian, I don’t stand a chance against the powerful criminals.”

“This is sheer injustice for me and all other minority girls who have fallen victim to such predators,” she said. “I’ve resolved not to give up my pursuit for justice no matter what happens now, and I appeal to the Christian leadership for support in this legal battle.”

Christian political activist Shahzad Imran Sahotra said he and some Christian attorneys met with the victim’s family and assured them of their support.