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Pakistan: Islamic Man Attacks Two Christian Women With Ax, Attempts Rape

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A spate of extremely violent attacks on Christians in Pakistan’s Punjab Province was manifest again when a Muslim man attacked two Christian women with an ax and attempted to rape one of them last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

A landowner in Sargodha District, Punjab Province, Abdul Rauf attacked Rukhsana Bibi, 36, of Chak 11 village, Janoobi Colony, and her sister-in-law, Asifa Bibi, 34, in his field on Jan. 27, MSN reports. The women had gone to the field to relieve themselves as the Christian homes in the village do not have bathrooms.

Rauf attempted to rape Rukhsana Bibi and, when she resisted, beat her repeatedly with the handle of his ax, her husband Nasir Masih told MSN. “When my sister Asifa heard Rukhsana’s screams for help, she rushed into the field and tried to stop Abdul Rauf, but he attacked her too,” Masih said. The women managed to fight Rauf off, and he escaped. The Christians reported the attack to Silanwali Police, who very reluctantly registered an official complaint, and then only on lesser charges of assault for which bail is available, MSN said.

In a statement to MSN, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, a local Christian political leader and attorney, said the Christians clearly reported that Rauf was armed with an ax and attempted a rape. “This criminal action should have invoked sections 377 [attempt to rape] and 511 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which are non-bailable,” said. Although Pakistani authorities have been notoriously negligent in following up reports of attacks on Christians, together with Lahore-based rights group Christians True Spirit, Chaudhry was able to intervene and convince the police to add a more serious charge of assault as well as a charge of attempted rape.

In a website report concerning the persecution facing Christians in Pakistan, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy group called for prayer, writing: “Pray that believers will hold onto their identity as children of God as they live in a society that often demeans them. Ask for the protection and welfare of Christian women and girls, and for the release of all those taken from their families.”

Muslim-majority Pakistan ranks 7th on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.