Christians suffering rape, torture, extortion in several areas
January 14, 2012
Karachi
The Christian community in Essa Nagri, Ayub Goth and Bhittaiabad has been silently enduring extortion, rape and torture at the hands of workers of various political and ethnic parties for months now.
Michael Javed, former minister of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who recently joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), says that within the past month alone, “15 cases of rape were reported to him through various local heads of the areas.”
Speaking about the plight of the people in Essa Nagri, Javed says that most of the families living there silently go through the ordeal, “as people do not report or register an FIR fearing an attack from these people.”
He says some workers of a party have established torture cells in Essa Nagri and are notorious for picking up young boys and sexually abusing them. “They ask for ransom of Rs100,000 and whenever anyone defaults on the payment, the boys are tortured beyond recognition,” he informs dismally. As a result, within the last six months, many families have migrated from Karachi towards Punjab, he adds.
Javed says that when he contacted the leaders of some of the party workers, he was informed that the ones he was referring to had been ousted quite a while ago and the party was ignorant of their whereabouts.
In another instance, a brothel has been opened near a catholic church in Ayub Goth. Applications written to the authorities about the issue have not yet yielded any response, says Javed. “I want to appeal to the leaders of political parties to take notice of the issue and ask their party workers to stop harassing our community.”
The Christian community in Essa Nagri, Ayub Goth and Bhittaiabad has been silently enduring extortion, rape and torture at the hands of workers of various political and ethnic parties for months now.
Michael Javed, former minister of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who recently joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), says that within the past month alone, “15 cases of rape were reported to him through various local heads of the areas.”
Speaking about the plight of the people in Essa Nagri, Javed says that most of the families living there silently go through the ordeal, “as people do not report or register an FIR fearing an attack from these people.”
He says some workers of a party have established torture cells in Essa Nagri and are notorious for picking up young boys and sexually abusing them. “They ask for ransom of Rs100,000 and whenever anyone defaults on the payment, the boys are tortured beyond recognition,” he informs dismally. As a result, within the last six months, many families have migrated from Karachi towards Punjab, he adds.
Javed says that when he contacted the leaders of some of the party workers, he was informed that the ones he was referring to had been ousted quite a while ago and the party was ignorant of their whereabouts.
In another instance, a brothel has been opened near a catholic church in Ayub Goth. Applications written to the authorities about the issue have not yet yielded any response, says Javed. “I want to appeal to the leaders of political parties to take notice of the issue and ask their party workers to stop harassing our community.”
