A Childhood Shattered: The Fight for a 15-Year-Old Pakistani Girl

In December of last year, 15-year-old Mehwish, a Christian girl from a poor family in Pakistan, went to her neighbor’s home for a routine sewing lesson. The teacher, a Muslim woman named Saba, was not there. Instead, Saba’s 30-year-old husband, Muhammad Sajjad, opened the door and told Mehwish that his wife was inside. He led the trusting teenager to a room, where he raped her. Afterward, he threatened to kill her entire family if she ever told anyone what had happened.

Terrified and overwhelmed by shame, Mehwish kept silent. She stopped attending the sewing classes and soon began suffering serious health problems. Six weeks later, her mother discovered the devastating truth: Mehwish was pregnant as a direct result of the assault.

Her father, Jameel Masih – a rickshaw driver and the sole provider for a family of six – immediately filed a police complaint. On February 14, authorities formally charged Muhammad Sajjad with statutory rape of a minor and arrested him. He remains in police custody as the investigation and legal proceedings continue.

Take action with us and defend dying Christians in Pakistan.

Our affiliate in Pakistan, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), is now providing full legal representation and compassionate support in this heartbreaking case. In February, our team visited Mehwish and her family, pledging assistance and moral encouragement throughout the process.

Without the ACLJ, legal representation would be cost-prohibitive. The family lives in extreme poverty; the children do not attend school, Mehwish’s two older brothers work small daily-wage jobs, and she has been learning to sew from Saba to gain a skill. Mehwish should be in school, developing her abilities and dreaming of her future like any other teenage girl. Instead, she is a survivor carrying the weight of profound trauma. She has suffered a severe mental breakdown and continues to endure significant physical complications from the rape, while the family faces deep emotional, social, and financial hardship.

Our on-the-ground team is fully committed to prosecuting Sajjad to the fullest extent of the law to secure justice for Mehwish while supporting her healing, and reinforcing that such crimes will face serious consequences.

Please keep Mehwish, her father, Jameel Masih, and the entire family in your prayers: for courage to face each day, for physical and emotional recovery, and for swift and fair justice in the courts. Take action with us and defend dying Christians in Pakistan.