Nearly a quarter of 14-year-old girls self-harm, according to a Children’s Society report. Pixabay
At just 21 years old, Mishal carries visible scars — and many invisible ones. The faint mark beneath her eye and the mark on her throat, where she says an attempt was made on her life, are reminders of physical violence. But the deeper wounds lie within: the trauma of betrayal, the fear of captivity, the humiliation of coercion, and the constant anxiety of living under threat.
Her childhood was cut short, her dignity stripped away, and her freedom stolen during years that should have been filled with hope, growth, and possibility.
Instead of building a future, she was fighting to survive each day. Instead of dreaming as a young woman, she was calculating how to protect herself and, later, her baby.
Those three and a half years did not just leave bruises on her body — they left lasting emotional scars: sleepless nights, sudden panic at loud noises, and the lingering fear that her persecutor may return. Yet despite everything, there remains something that was never broken — her faith, her courage, and her determination to protect her daughter from the same suffering.
Abducted at the age of 18, she spent three and a half years in forced confinement, enduring physical torture, religious coercion, threats, humiliation, and isolation before finally escaping with her baby daughter in her arms.
When we met Mishal, the redness in her left eye and the scar beneath it told part of the story. The rest came slowly, through tears.
Born into a poor Christian family, the fourth of four daughters, Mishal never went to school. Poverty forced her into work at a young age. She began working at a beauty parlour owned by a Christian woman named Jessica, but when the business closed, she found another job at a reputable salon where most employees were Muslim. She was earning a decent salary and helping support her family.
It was there that she met a female client who befriended her and later introduced her — without her consent — to a man named Ali Haider.
What began as unwanted phone calls quickly turned into harassment. Mishal says she clearly told him three things: she was Christian, she would never change her faith, and her parents would never permit such a marriage. Despite this, he continued to follow her, waiting outside her workplace.
One day, under the pretense of a casual meeting, Ali took her to a private house. Inside were a Muslim cleric and two unknown men. Illiterate and frightened, Mishal was pressured to sign documents she could not read and place her thumbprint on papers she did not understand. Only afterward was she informed that she had been converted to Islam and renamed “Fatima.”
When she protested, she was slapped. Ali declared that she was now his wife and under his authority.
That same night, armed men arrived at her family home, firing shots and forcibly abducting her despite her father’s refusal to send her with them.
For months in Lahore, and later in Gujranwala near his ancestral home, Mishal says she was locked inside, denied freedom of movement, beaten, insulted for her Christian faith, and called degrading names. She was treated not as a wife, but as a servant.
Pregnant and isolated, she gave birth to a baby girl, Ayat.
The violence did not stop. In one terrifying incident, while allegedly under the influence of drugs, Ali brutally assaulted her and threw their infant daughter against a wall. Miraculously, the child survived.
Neighbours, hearing her screams, threw down a rope from a rooftop and helped her escape. Police were called. Officers broke open the locked house and rescued Mishal and her daughter. An FIR was registered.
Yet justice has moved slowly. Mishal says threats continue. Despite repeated visits to the police station, she was allegedly told not to “come every day” as they had “other important work.”
Now back at her parents’ home, she lives in fear as Ali reportedly continues to appear in her street, threatening to kill her family if she does not return.
Our legal team has filed a harassment petition in the Lahore High Court and is initiating divorce proceedings to secure her permanent freedom and protection.
Mishal’s story is not an isolated tragedy. It reflects the profound vulnerability of poor, uneducated minority girls who lack protection and legal awareness.
Today, Mishal seeks only safety for herself and her daughter — and the freedom to live her faith without fear.
The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) is an interdenominational organization working for Christians who are being persecuted because of their faith in Pakistan.
