A Christian woman working as a housecleaner in Pakistan endured physical abuse and unlawful captivity for a week at the hands of her Muslim employers after she expressed her intention to leave her job due to her pregnancy, she revealed.
Asma Gulfam, a 28-year-old Catholic maid residing in the Paka Ghara area of Sialkot District, Punjab Province, shared that she had been employed by Huda Adnan for a period of five years. Gulfam explained that in early April, she informed Adnan that she was five months pregnant and unable to continue working due to a medical condition. However, Adnan insisted that she must remain employed.
On April 18, Adnan accused Gulfam of stealing 1 million rupees (US$3,490) that had been left in a bathroom a few days prior. Gulfam denied the accusation, recounting that Adnan forcibly took her to a room where a police assistant sub-inspector named Ijaz Ahmed and three other policemen were waiting alongside Adnan's husband, Mian Adnan.
"Upon seeing me, Ijaz and his team immediately began verbally abusing and cursing me," Gulfam told Morning Star News. "They threatened to strip me if I didn't confess to the alleged theft. When I refused, they pulled my hair and brutally assaulted me. During the torture, Ijaz even attempted to remove my nails."
Gulfam's pleas of innocence were disregarded. The repeated blows to her abdominal area caused her to bleed from her uterus, yet the policemen and Adnan's husband persisted in their assault.
"I cried out for help, but nobody came to rescue me," she recounted to Morning Star News. "Throughout all those years I had worked in that house, the couple had never accused me of any wrongdoing. I had worked diligently and honestly, as a testament to my Christian faith."
As a mother of five children, including her unborn child, she revealed that she was forcefully detained for eight days and subjected to repeated beatings.
"I was held captive in Huda's house during that time, enduring continuous torture," she shared. "My assailants berated me for being a Christian and made it clear that nobody could save me from them unless I confessed to their false allegation."
When her husband, Gulfam Masih, who works as a rickshaw driver, went to the Civil Lines police station to report her disappearance, he was arrested, according to Gulfam.
"They unlawfully detained him for a week and released him on April 26, only after my health deteriorated," she disclosed.
Her husband hurriedly took her to a government hospital, where a medical examination confirmed that she had been physically abused.
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