'Tortured and Raped Multiple Times': The Persecution of Christians, September 2024

The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of September 2024.

Pakistan: Forced Conversion and Rape of Christians

On September 12, a Muslim man and two accomplices kidnapped a 16-year-old Christian girl, then forced her to convert to Islam and marry him. Her parents were away at the time, but when they returned, neighbors said they had seen the gun-wielding suspects bundling their daughter, Diya Iftikhar, into a white Suzuki van and fleeing the scene. "We were terrified," said the mother, Shaida, "because Ghazaal and his accomplices were involved in the Aug. 16, 2023 attacks on churches and homes in Jaranwala. They are notorious for their criminal activities, including sexual harassment of Christian girls." Four days later a video was sent to the parents of the underage girl saying she had converted to Islam and married of her own free will:

"We knew Diya was coerced to record this false statement, because she detested Ghazaal. She had often complained to us that Ghazaal and his friends used to harass her when she went to her tuition center."

Although her parents had immediately gone to the police, they refused to respond. After repeatedly visiting and "pestering" the police station, authorities briefly detained the kidnapper:

"But this was just to show us that the police were making an effort to find Diya. They neither investigated him nor put pressure on him to help recover our daughter from his son's illegal custody."

Joseph, the girl's father, said the investigating officer of the case was being not being cooperative:

"Despite pleading with the IO for Diya's recovery, he is not taking any action against Ghazaal and his accomplices. My wife and I work in local textile factories and do not have the money to pursue the case in court. We also made a video appeal for support from Christian organizations but so far we haven't received any legal assistance."

He said the suspects were pressuring them to drop the case,

"but we will not stop until Diya is returned to us. I'm also fearful for the security of my four younger daughters. If the abductors are not arrested and punished, it will put them and the other Christian girls of my village at serious risk of abduction. I beg the police authorities to protect us from these predators."

Discussing how common such cases are, the report adds,

"Typically, kidnapped girls in Pakistan, some as young as 10, are abducted, forced to convert to Islam and raped under cover of Islamic "marriages" and are then pressured to record false statements in favor of the kidnappers... Judges routinely ignore documentary evidence related to the children's ages, handing them back to kidnappers as their "legal wives." Recorded cases of abduction and forced conversion numbered 136 in 2023, the highest annual total ever... Unofficial sources suggest that forced religious conversions linked to forced marriages affect as many as 1,000 girls belonging to religious minorities annually."

Separately, "Muslims who abducted a 17-year-old Christian girl and gang-raped her for 10 days are," according to a Sept. 30 report, "threatening her family to pressure them to withdraw charges, even as police have failed to arrest most of the suspects." The girl's impoverished family repeatedly tried to retrieve the girl, to no avail. "I'm a poor man and did not have the resources to take a stand against the influential Muslims on my own," said her father, Taj Masih.

"When the accused were summoned by the village council, they admitted that they had taken her and assured them that she would be returned to us. However, when they kept delaying her return on various pretenses, I filed a complaint with the police... Police on Sept. 5 found the girl, who told them that she had been gang-raped by Muhammad Yasir and Muhammad Saif... A medical examination [and DNA testing] proved she was physically tortured and raped multiple times by the suspects."

The father said that police arrested Saif (Arabic for "sword") even though all the other suspects, including a Muslim woman who helped in the abduction, are still free:

"I go to the police station every day hoping for justice but return home empty-handed... [Now] they are threatening me to drop the case or face the consequences, but I won't back down."

His poverty and Christian faith have been double obstacles in achieving justice, he said:

"There are about 25-30 Christian families in our locality, and a majority of us are laborers. We are often discriminated against due to our religion, but I was not expecting the police to treat this case with such an indifferent attitude. My daughter's honor has been violated, and she's been scarred for life, but it seems there's no justice for poor Christians like us."

In another case, on Sept. 11, a high court ordered the recovery of two Christian sisters, aged 13 and 18. They were forcibly converted to Islam and married to their abductors nearly two months earlier in July. According to attorney Sumera Shafique,

"The family was sleeping in their two-room quarters on July 23 when Zain and Ali accompanied by some unidentified accomplices entered their home, locked the door of the parents' room from the outside and abducted the girls."

The parents immediately alerted the police, only to be completely ignored. According to the girls' mother, Sumera Bibi,

"We kept pleading with police for recovering our daughters, but they did not act. Whenever we received information from someone about my daughters' whereabouts, my husband and eldest son would immediately go to those cities to look for them. We had to take loans to meet the travel expenses, and we are now under a huge debt."

A few days after the initial kidnapping, forged Islamic conversion certificates were sent to the parents, falsifying the two girls' ages. Attorney Shafique continues,

"The perpetrators lived in the same neighborhood and ostensibly targeted the girls because of their poverty and vulnerability due to their Christian faith. The police's attitude is also regrettable, because they made no effort to find the girls. The court has now directed the Kasur District Police Officer to recover the girls, so we are hoping that the local police will now take some action against the accused."

Last reported, the rapists' Muslim relatives were pressuring the Christian family to "withdraw the case and forget about the sisters." According to the girls' mother, they

"even attacked my husband with an axe when he confronted them.... How can we let them destroy the lives of our daughters? Neha is only 13, while her abductor-husband is more than double her age... We haven't seen our daughters since the time they were taken from our home," she said. "We are extremely worried about them and want them back at all costs."

Finally, Muslim employers of a teenage Christian boy forcibly converted him to Islam and are refusing to release him. Samsoon Javed, 17, had taken the new job at a gas company to help his family financially. Before long, "He began avoiding us and his siblings and didn't speak much when he was at home," said Samina Javed, his mother:

"We were worried about him, but despite our repeated prodding he wouldn't tell us anything.... We came to know about Samsoon's conversion in September, when he didn't come home from work. When my husband and I went to Umar's shop to inquire about Samsoon, he told us that our son had become a Muslim and didn't want to live with us anymore. We were shocked to hear this and pleaded with Umar to let us meet with Samsoon, but he refused and told us to leave his property."

After a few days, they managed to see the supposed willing convert:

"Samsoon kept silent and avoided eye contact when we asked him about his conversion. It was quite clear that he was scared and under pressure. He told us to leave, saying Umar would be angry if he saw us there."

They later learned from contacts that the Muslim employers had been taking their son to an Islamic spiritual guide (Pir), who pressured the teen to change his Christian faith:

"I'm certain that Samsoon is being held by the two brothers against his will. I have seen fear in his eyes... [I]t's as if he's being blackmailed or threatened by them. I know that he'll expose the truth once he's out of their custody.... We are in a very difficult situation – no local Muslim is likely to help us because of Samsoon's alleged conversion. Even if someone does support us, there's a chance that my son will be disappeared or harmed."

The Muslim Slaughter of Christians

Nigeria: Headlines of the "pure genocide" of Christians from the month of September follow:

• Sept. 2: Fulani Herdsmen Kill Six Christians in Central Nigeria.
• Sept. 3: At least 10 Christians Killed in Simultaneous Attacks.
• Sept. 23: Fulani Herdsmen Kill Christians at Church Services in Nigeria: Pastor and 30 others kidnapped.
• Sept. 23: The Hatred at Home: How a Nigerian Christian Escaped his [Muslim] Family's Attempt to Kill Him.
• Sept. 30: Fulanis in Nigeria Kill More Christians than Boko Haram, ISWAP, Report Says.

Burkina Faso: On Sunday, Sept. 1, Muslims terrorists murdered 26 Christians who moments earlier were worshipping inside their church. The terrorists first surrounded the building and ordered the women and children out. Next they tied up and ritually executed the men. Before leaving, the Muslims plundered and then torched the church and Christian homes. The report adds that,

"Although this attack in Banwa province was exceptionally brutal, it was not the first targeting [of] the Christian community during a religious ceremony. On February 25, a similar attack in Essakana, in the north of the country, left fifteen dead [Christians] and two injured during a Sunday mass."

Egypt: Muslims murdered, hacked to pieces, and dumped the remains of a Christian man into a Cairo canal. Days earlier, on Sept. 29, Mina Musa, 21, had left his family home in Minya for a new job in Cairo. Mina took this distant job to help -- not exacerbate -- his impoverished family's condition. He was responding to an advertisement on social media to assist an elderly person in Cairo. The notice included the offer of a generous salary, along with broader networking opportunities in the field of physical therapy. His family lost contact with him, only to receive a call from people—the ones behind the fake job advertisement, who ended up choosing him due to his overtly Christian name (Mina)—saying they had kidnapped and were holding Mina for 150,000 (roughly $3,000) Egyptian pounds in ransom, a sizable sum for poorer Egyptians. Mina had taken this distant job precisely to help -- not exacerbate -- his impoverished family's condition. The authorities managed to track the young man down to a Cairo apartment. On breaking in, they found parts of Mina's body—his torso and one arm—with no head, legs, or other arm, which had already been hacked off and thrown into the nearby Ismaila Canal. Three men were arrested; they confessed to their crime. Last reported, divers were searching in the canal for Mina's head.

Muslim Attacks on Churches and Christian Symbols

England: On Sunday, Sept. 1, a Muslim woman entered a church, screamed "Allahu Akbar!" ["Allah is the greatest"] and announced that she was "here to kill the God of the Jews." According to the report,

"Pastor Regan King had been preparing for worship at the evangelical Angel Church in Islington, North London, with his Jewish wife Rachel and young children. But the crazed woman entered at about 10am, allegedly shouting Islamic calls to prayer in Arabic before directly addressing and reaching out to the youngsters. Mr King then moved his family to safety before demanding that the woman leave the building, but she was instead said to have became [sic] more aggressive. Metropolitan Police officers were then called before the woman began shouting anti-Semitic abuse and screamed: 'I am here to kill the God of the Jews'. The Muslim woman repeatedly shouts 'Allahu Akbar' through the sound system at The Angel Church in Islington, North London, on Sunday before the Metropolitan Police arrived. The woman is said to have became [sic] more aggressive after she was asked to leave the building. As she was arrested on suspicion of a religiously-aggravated public order offence, the woman allegedly tried to appeal to one of the officers who she believed was a Muslim. She was said to have referred to him as 'brother', spoke in Arabic and repeatedly said to him: 'Remember Allah.' However, the officer told her that he did not speak Arabic and that she should speak in English."

Discussing this encounter, Pastor King, said,

"My family and I are deeply concerned and shaken by this incident, especially my wife who is Jewish. She is traumatised and now fears going outside. Since October 7 especially, as a family and church, we have experienced multiple incidents of antisemitism and anti-Christianity. Yet we are undeterred and will continue to operate as usual albeit with plans for increasing our security."

Switzerland: On Sept. 7, Sanija Ameti, the municipal councilor of Zurich, who is of Bosnian Muslim origin, published photos of herself on Instagram using a poster of Mary and Baby Jesus for target practice. The heads of Mary and Jesus appear riddled with bullet holes. After her post caused an outcry among Christians in Europe and America, she quickly deleted the image and tried to apologize. But even her own political partly, the Swiss Green Liberal Party, have distanced themselves from her, with their president saying that the act was a "deliberate provocation." The Swiss Conference of Catholic Bishops also condemned the act: "Even if one disregards the religious representation of the Mother of God, the use of this image testifies to violence and disrespect towards the human person."

Germany: A Muslim migrant from Syria, with a history of criminal behavior stretching back to his arrival in 2017, assaulted a 79-year-old German man in a religiously inspired crime. According to the Sept. 16 report,

"At around 12 noon, a 27-year-old refugee from Syria approached a German pensioner and ripped the chain with the Christ cross from his neck.... He then allegedly punched the 79-year-old victim in the face. The senior citizen suffered a bleeding wound.... According to the Gera public prosecutor's office, the motive for the crime is clearly 'religious.'"

Kosovo: A historic church was desecrated and shot up in the 95% Muslim nation. In a statement, the Serbian Orthodox Church expressed its

"deep concern and regret over the latest desecration of a historic church site in Međugore.... The destruction of icons and visible bullet damage at this sacred site ... is a deeply troubling act that further intensifies the pain and uncertainty felt by our people in Kosovo and Metohija, especially in recent times.... The desecration of this place sends an overt message of hostility, reinforcing the feeling that our people, who have lived in Kosovo and Metohija for centuries, are no longer welcome. We wish to emphasize that this incident, along with other pressures and intimidation from extremists, as well as from the Kosovo police, threatens the safety and dignity of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. Twenty-five years after the war, it is unacceptable that acts of violence and desecration continue to go unpunished, indicating the inability of local authorities to fully ensure the security and protection of our Church and its faithful. Such actions have a damaging impact ... as they deepen ethnic and religious divisions..."

Indonesia: Between September 2 and 4, authorities arrested seven Muslims for plotting to assassinate Pope Francis. During raids on the suspects' homes, extremist and ISIS literature was found, as well as drones and weapons, drones. The seven Muslims reportedly did not know each other and were working independently. Some of the would-be assassins were especially angered because the pope had visited Istiqlal mosque, southeast Asia's largest Muslim worship center, and that its Islamic call to prayer was interrupted during a live televised broadcast of the pope's visit to Jakarta. There were also threats to set fire to all the locations visited by Francis. One of the suspects "conveyed provocation on social media to burn down places of worship (churches) during the pope's visit to Jakarta." Another posted on social media: "I WILL BOMB THE POPE. I'M A TERRORIST...JUST BE CAREFUL...WAIT FOR NEWS YEEE." Another simply wrote that he would "shoot" the pope.

Muslim Attacks on Christian Freedom:
Jihad on Apostates, Blasphemers, and Evangelists

Iran: On Sept. 20, Mojdeh Falahi, a 36-year-old Christian woman—a convert from Islam—who has been held without charges since Sept. 9, "wept uncontrollably during the five minutes her mother was allowed to visit her." The family said they were concerned about mistreatment by authorities and the conditions surrounding her confinement, said Sam Khosravi, the apostate woman's brother-in-law:

"Mojdeh's mother goes to the court every day to pursue the case and asks the judge to release her. She went to the court today [Sept. 20], and after a lot of begging, the judge allowed her to see Mojdeh.... Psychologically, she is in a very bad condition and only cries... We worry and wonder why they have kept her for such a long time."

The family believes she is being "intensely interrogated" to reveal other clandestine converts to Christianity. After saying that "Relatives most fear that Iranian authorities are brutalizing Falahi in a way that could leave her psychologically scarred for life," the report cites the experiences of her brother-in-law, Khosravi, and other relatives who were also arrested in 2019:

"Khosravi said the main goal of detention isn't always punishment or even to gather information, but to break a prisoner at such a fundamental level that they are shattered permanently. The intent is to force them to renounce their faith or to spread said a fellow Christian had been so badly treated that she refused to enter church sites even years after her release. *** Another Christian, forced to listen to the cries of a woman screaming in a near-by cell, was convinced by guards that it was his wife being raped repeatedly, he said."

"It's all about humiliation," Khosravi said. "There will be things in their mind and heart they will never get over."

Pakistan: On Sept. 18, a Christian mother of four was sentenced to death on a "blasphemy" conviction. Shagufta Kiran, 40, was arrested in 2021 for allegedly sharing content deemed offensive to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, in her WhatsApp in 2020. Three years after being tried, she was convicted under Section 295-C of Pakistan's penal code, which carries a mandatory death sentence for anyone who insults Muhammad. According to her attorney Rana Abdul Hameed,

"The complaint against Kiran was registered by a Muslim named Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi, who alleged that she had shared content disrespectful of Islam's prophet. However, Kiran has maintained that she has not authored the content and had forwarded it in the WhatsApp group without reading it."

The reason she was handed the death sentence has less to do with actual evidence and everything to do with extremist pressure groups, Hameed said:

"If you examine all cases of 295-C, the trial courts tend to convict the accused even if the cases against them are very weak. This is due to the pressure of the religious groups and fears of mob violence. If you analyze all cases of 295-C, you will see that all the convictions of the trial court are overturned by the superior courts."

The report adds that,

"Nearly 3,000 persons have been accused of blasphemy in Pakistan since 1987... [H]undreds of accused were incarcerated last year in Pakistan, with 552 detained in prisons in Punjab Province alone. At least 350 persons remained behind bars as of June ... [and]103 new persons had been accused of blasphemy this year between January and June.... [A]t least seven persons accused of blasphemy have been killed by individuals or mobs across Pakistan since January. A total of 94 people accused of blasphemy were killed in mob attacks between 1994 and 2023."

Uganda: On Friday, Sept. 20, Muslims beat a Christian evangelist, leaving him with several injuries, including to the head, that required hospitalization. Robertson Eriot, 41, and fellow evangelist Kefa Mukisa, 25, were visiting homes and sharing the Gospel. When they entered the home of an Islamic leader, and began talking to his attendants, "Sheikh Kalimu who was inside the house heard our conversation—he was angered and came out furiously," said Mukisa: "He ordered his boys and other Muslims who had come for Islamic fellowship to come out of the room and to discipline us." After The sheikh cried out in a loud voice, "These are Christians who are out to convert our people to a wrong religion." Immediately,

"a number of people came out of the house shouting the jihadist slogan, 'Allah Akbar [Allah is the greatest].' Since the gate was closed, we decided to jump over the fence.... Unfortunately, Eriot was caught up before he was able to escape over the fence."

Later, after Mukisa had rounded other Christians for help,

"We entered the homestead, and we found Eriot half-dead in a pool of blood. We were able to rush him to the nearby clinic for treatment. Eriot suffered deep head injuries, a fractured left hand and bruises near the thigh of his right leg."

Yemen: On Sept. 23, an interview was published surrounding the plight of the Christians in Yemen. Badr, a Yemeni Catholic woman born in the 1980s and living in Aden, said how in middle school she "experienced harsh challenges related to my faith and to the loss of our rights." Things especially worsened after the Muslim Brotherhood came into power in the 1990s, she added:

"We were forced to wear the hijab. The government officially prohibited us from celebrating midnight Mass on Christmas and New Year's Eve. Christians accepted the situation and did not raise their voices. Some emigrated, others changed their religion, fearing to lose their homes and jobs. Many practiced their faith behind closed doors at a time when the Church did not support young people or work on strengthening families... After 1994, the authorities tried to make Yemen an Islamic state. They wiped out our identity as Christians and refused to write 'Christian' on documents. Christians had to write either 'Muslim' or leave a blank space. They accused us of being 'remnants of British colonialism' and said that 'the United States funds us.' Teachers pressured me to change my religion and forced me to read the Quran daily. When I got full marks in Islamic education, they would reduce my grades, because they told me 'a Christian couldn't be equal to a Muslim.'... After being banned from praying [due to the closure of all churches in 2015], we started praying secretly in the convent of the nuns. Unfortunately, all the nuns were later killed. The priest was kidnapped. The churches were stolen, and some were vandalized.... In 2018, the authorities refused to renew our passports unless we wrote the word 'Islam' in the religion section of the application form, as we were told: 'There are no Christians in Yemen.'"

Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.

Previous reports

• August, 2024
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