by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A locally renowned Muslim criminal in Lahore, Pakistan has confessed to being the lead perpetrator in the abduction, gang-rape and brutal murder of a Pakistani Christian widow who refused his demand to convert to Islam and marry him last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Ruled by an authoritarian Islamic government, Pakistan ranks 7 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Forty-year-old Shazia Imran was abducted in Lahore, Pakistan on June 6, by notorious criminal Noman Gujjar together with his brother and two of his cousins, MSN reports. Forensic reports confirm Shazia was gang-raped and that the assailants cut her throat, killing her. Acid was poured on her body, causing severe burns, although it was not confirmed whether this happened before or after she died.
Shazia's husband died a year and a half ago, and she was working as a nanny at a daycare center at the Lahore University of Management Sciences at the time of her death, MSN said.
In a statement to MSN, Shazia’s brother Zafar Masih said: “Shazia did not share this with us due to fears for our security, but three days before her abduction, she told [another relative] that Gujjar had threatened to kill her if she did not surrender to his demand.”
Having reported the matter on June 7, Zafar Masih said the police contacted the family saying a body had been found that matched Shazia’s description. “We immediately went to the police station, but when we saw the body, we could not believe our eyes. Shazia’s jugular vein had been slit with a sharp object, and her body had been badly burnt by acid.” While Gujjar has been arrested and has confessed, his accomplices have not been arrested, Zafar Masih told MSN.