Christian Father Who Rescued Daughter from Forced Muslim Conversion Shot

Gulzar Masih knows he's fortunate to be alive. On Aug. 27, four Muslim men attacked the Pakistani Christian father while on his way home. But this was no random attack.

The four are accused of kidnapping, raping, and forcing Masih's 27-year-old daughter to convert to Islam. Masih took them to court and a judge ordered the men arrested.

But before that could happen, Masih was attacked.

"I was immersed in thoughts regarding the case when I saw Ghulam Hussain and Akram {Muslim attackers} running towards me, hurling threats and abuses," Masih told Morning Star News.

"As soon as they came near me, Hussain whipped out a pistol and fired a shot aimed at my chest. He then fired two more bullets at my legs, after which I fell down on the road," he continued. "He then asked Akram to break my skull with a metal object that he was carrying. I was hit in the head, after which I lost consciousness."

Masih survived the attack and is now recuperating at home.

His family's nightmare began on Aug. 3, when the four men kidnapped his daughter Asma Gulzar at gunpoint. The lead suspect, Ghulam Hussain, was a neighbor and influential leader in the community with ties to high-ranking police officers.

According to reports, Masih knew who had kidnapped his daughter, but because of his Christian faith and economic status, was unable to win his daughter's release. But Masih says a "miracle" happened when his daughter suddenly appeared in mid-August weeks after she had been abducted.

Masih's attorney, Hafiz Atiqur Salim, told Morning Star News what had happened.

"The girl unexpectedly returned home and informed them that she had been forcibly taken by Ghulam Hussain and three other men at gunpoint and was kept hostage at an unknown location where the accused had repeatedly raped her," Salim said. "She told her family that she had fled from captivity when Hussain forgot to lock the door of the hideout."

Her father immediately alerted police and requested that the men be arrested. But according to Masih's lawyer, the lead suspect, Hussain, claimed that Asma was his "wife" and demanded that she be returned to him.

Hussain told police that Asma had been his wife for three years after she reportedly converted to Islam. Morning Star News reports that Hussain produced a marriage and conversion certificate backing his claim.

Hussain, along with 25 other Islamic clerics, started demanding that Asma be returned to her husband.

"Asma denied all claims relating to her marriage with Hussain and the alleged conversion to Islam in a written statement to the police," Masih's lawyer Salim told Morning Star News. "However, the police's connivance with the accused became clear when Sub-Inspector Iqbal started forcing Masih and his daughter to 'settle the matter amicably' with Hussain and go with him, as she was his 'lawfully wedded wife.'"

But a Pakistani judge ruled in favor of Masih's family and ordered the four men arrested. Three days after the arrest order was issued, Hussain, along with the three other men, brutally attacked Masih.

"They may try again to kill me, but I will not stop from knocking on the doors of justice to avenge my daughter's dishonor," Masih said. "Hussain and his friends are also threatening my three sons with dire consequences, but we have resolved not to sit quiet and let them get away with such a heinous crime."

Masih says he will not succumb to the threats against his family nor give up his daughter.

"Ghulam Hussain and his friends abducted my daughter at gunpoint and took her to an unknown place," Masih said. "They tortured and raped her for months, and her escape from their captivity is nothing less than a miracle for us."

Sadly, such cases are not uncommon in Pakistan. Every year, as many as a 1,000 young Christian and Hindu girls are kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam.

Human rights groups have accused politicians and authorities of doing nothing to protect these victims. And since many of the girls are from poor families, activists say influential Muslim leaders often feel like "they can carry out a kidnapping without reprisal."

In some cases, Muslim clerics have been known to kidnap under-age girls, force them to convert to Islam and marry them off--all in the same day.