Shafique Khokhar

Saima, 15, worked as a maid at the home of Tahir Jameel. In the latest attempt at abuse, she was beaten and had her hair cut. The politician put pressure on her family to drop their complaint, but the young woman wants to go ahead with the case.

Activists, Catholics and lawyers complain about the failure to enforce a Supreme Court ruling that was supposed to lay the foundations for everyone’s right to profess their religion in freedom.

Sania Lateef, 15, went missing on 25 May. Some witnesses saw her being abducted by two Muslims. Activist group brought the case before a district court, but the investigation appears to be going nowhere.

The bill is stuck in Parliament due to parliamentarians and government members who believe it is against Islam. In Pakistan every 20 minutes a woman dies due to complications related to maternity, whilst more than a thousand girls are abducted every year and forced to convert and marry much older men.

The meeting of the Inter-religious Movement for Tolerance takes place every year during Ramadan, the holy month of Islam. Activists of all religions have reiterated the need to create a country of peace.

Javed Masih, leaves a wife and a disabled child. His employer had him abducted and tortured. The minimum monthly wage set by the government is US$ 109, whilst the murder victim made only US$ 66.

The graveyard is located next to St Anthony Catholic Church in Chak 10/4-L-Antoniabad, a village near the city of Okara. Among the desecrated tombs are those of two priests. Fear now prevails in the local Christian community.

The two were sentenced to the death in 2016 for shoving a Christian couple into a brick kiln because of false charges of blasphemy against them. “We request the honourable Supreme Court to check the pressures of the extremists in the case of Shama and Shahzad,” says activist.

Neha had also resisted rape and beatings, but then succumbed when the torturers threatened to throw her little brother off the roof. The husband, already married before, wants her back home and has filed a complaint for insulting Islamic laws. The Church is helping the family.

The Rev. Naveed Azam leads the Assembly of God Church in the Christian colony of Ghaziabad. The criminals left no signature or other signs of recognition. For Catholics, it is a "clear sign that religious minorities are targeted because they are vulnerable".

The people arrested include a Chinese woman, who headed the syndicate, a Protestant clergymen and four others, all Christian. Young women were enticed to marry Chinese men on the promise of a better life, but ended up as prostitutes or forced to work. The Chinese woman paid for the fake marriage, but some money also went to the parents of would-be Pakistan brides.

Held in Karachi, the event was also an occasion to remember the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. The president of the association behind the initiative, who is blind, called on people to take a chance on the potential of the disabled. "We do not want to be a burden on society or our families,” he said.