Arifa Alfred got away, and is now telling the world of her ordeal. May all who remain captives, including Farah Hatim, and Saba and Anila Masih, find their way to freedom as well, to the frustration and shame of their captors. “Pakistan: Christian kidnapped, tortured for 2 years; false conversion to Islam,” from Catholic Culture, August 19 (thanks to Twostellas):
A Pakistani Christian woman who was abducted in 2009 has escaped from her captor.
After Arifa Alfred, 27, was drugged and kidnapped in central Pakistan, she awoke and was shown papers stating that she had converted to Islam and married her captor. After two years of torture, she escaped on August 1.
Many other such cases involving Christian and Hindu girls in Pakistan continue to go unreported, as the Bishop of Islamabad has warned the kidnappings have become a common practice.
“I am a Christian and have always remained steadfast in my Christian faith and continued to pray to Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary in my heart for liberation during these two years of imprisonment,” she said.
Following her escape, Alfred brought the matter to the attention of police. The police inspector praised her for converting to Islam and has not pursued the case. Alfred and her family now fear for their lives.
Along with the problem of complicit police and undoubtedly enraged captors, Alfred is now officially an apostate from Islam, which carries the death penalty under Sharia according to Muhammad’s own command.