London: June 29, 2012. (PCP) The CLAAS legal team is continuing to pursue the case of a young Christian woman, who was abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and to marry a Muslim man. Tania Rubeeca, 22, was abducted as she walked home in Nankana City. When the family reported their daughter missing, the police took no interest. Tania was only located when the family were able to trace her whereabouts through a cellphone number belonging to Muhammad Zafar. Tania’s relatives approached Muhammad Zafar and were able to find out where she was being kept. However, when they went back to the police with the information, officers were again reluctant to get involved and register a First Information Report. A FIR report was only registered after CLAAS director Joseph Francis put pressure on the police to take action against Tania’s kidnapper. The police then raided Muhammad’s house but Tania was not there as she had been moved to another location. It was later revealed that she had been sold to a couple for 85,000 rupees (around $940). After a long struggle, Tania was eventually freed, but only after her family handed over 90,000 rupees. Tania was extremely traumatized by her abduction and even after being taken to the CLAAS office, was unable to speak about it for some time. She was taken to the CLAAS Rehabilitation Centre Apna Ghar where she was able to receive counseling and start the process towards recovering from her ordeal. When she was able to speak about her experience, she told how she had been blindfolded, beaten and raped repeatedly by her kidnappers. Despite some initial delays, CLAAS was able to get a court judge to record Tania’s statement. CLAAS is in contact with the police handling the case and will continue to monitor progress closely. Nasir Saeed, CLAAS-UK Coordinator said: “Tania has suffered a terrible ordeal. The police should being doing their utmost to bring her abductors before the courts and sentenced for the crimes they have committed. Too many Christian women are being exploited and abused because of their faith, and in some abduction cases it is sadly left to the families to find their daughters and free them. This is completely unacceptable. There has been an astounding lack of urgency towards Tania’s case but we are determined to see that her abductors are held to account for their actions. We ask for your prayers as Tania continues to come to terms with her ordeal, and pray for us too as we fight the legal battle against her abductors in the courts.”