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Confronting Religious Persecution at the IRF Summit

Feb. 10Stories That Demand Action:

Last week I spoke on a panel at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C.—a global gathering that brings together advocates, policymakers, and legal experts from around the world who are on the front lines of defending religious freedom. The Summit provides a rare forum to share firsthand experiences, expose ongoing...More

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Persecuted Pakistani Christians

Today our affiliate office in Pakistan, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), has achieved a huge victory for a Christian girl and her family.

A District and Sessions Court in Gujranwala, Pakistan, sentenced a Muslim man to life imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old Christian girl.

On the afternoon of April 2, 2021, the girl, AJ, went to a store to get a snack. When she came back, she was crying. Her mother saw that her pants had blood on them. She helped AJ change her clothes and cleaned the blood. AJ told her mom that a man had taken her to a nearby walled-off empty plot of land and “did bad things with her.”

Being very poor and not knowing what to do, AJ’s parents took her to a midwife’s clinic in the neighborhood. The midwife gave them some medicine and sent them home. AJ’s parents asked her if she knew who the man was, but AJ did not know.

In Pakistan, because of their social status, poverty, and lack of education, many Christians don’t know what to do in such a situation, or even if to call the police. Further, cases of rape and sexual abuse often go unpunished because victims or their families don’t tell anyone due to social stigma.

The next morning, AJ’s mother told a neighbor about what had happened. The neighbor’s son said that he had seen another neighbor, named Qamar ul Zaman (a married man with four children), with AJ around that time, but had no idea where he was taking her. AJ’s parents then called the police.

The police came and showed AJ pictures of several men including a picture of Qamar ul Zaman, at which point she identified him as the man who had raped her. Based on her identification, the police arrested Qamar ul Zaman.

The police then took AJ to a hospital for a medical examination, which confirmed that she was raped. Her clothes were then sent for a DNA test, which matched with samples taken from Qamar ul Zaman.

AJ’s parents immediately pursued a case against Qamar ul Zaman, but due to ineffective counsel, the case wasn’t going anywhere. So, AJ’s parents contacted our affiliate office in August 2021 and asked for representation. During the trial, Qamar ul Zaman’s family offered money to AJ’s parents several times so that they would not pursue the case. When that did not work, Qamar ul Zaman’s wife even went to AJ’s school and tried to tell her it was not her husband who raped her. AJ’s parents had to take her out of school. It was not until our attorneys on the ground filed an application with the police to restrain Qamar ul Zaman’s family from approaching AJ and her family that they stopped contacting them.

Due to the severe trauma she had gone through, our team took AJ to a child psychologist who provided counseling to AJ and her family.

Finally, after over 33 court hearings in the span of 13 months, listening to the testimony of 11 witnesses, including the police officers and the doctors, and relying on the positive DNA result, Additional Sessions Judge Nadeem Hussain sentenced Qamar ul Zaman to life imprisonment and a fine.

Today, September 30, 2022, the judge called AJ’s parents to his chambers and announced the decision. After coming out of the judge’s chambers, AJ’s mother told our team that it would not have been possible for her to go to the court hearings or hire lawyers on her own. But with the help and dedication of our team in Pakistan, she was able to stand strong, attend every hearing, and resist the pressure from the perpetrator’s family. Although her daughter’s life may not be the same because of what she has gone through, she was happy and thankful that justice was served.

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Signatures

Shaheryar Gill  //

Feb 10, 2026

Last week I spoke on a panel at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C.—a global gathering that brings together advocates, policymakers, and legal experts from around the world who...

Shaheryar Gill  //

Jan 27, 2026

We recently informed you about V, a seven-year-old girl, who was sexually abused by a Muslim neighbor in Pakistan. We have been working on a similar, and even more horrific, case in which two Christian women...

Shaheryar Gill  //

Jan 21, 2026

Today I want to bring you an important update on another critical case involving a vulnerable seven-year-old Christian girl , to whom we will refer as “V” to protect her identity. V was sexually abused by a...