Posted on 05/11/2008 5:22:00 AM PDT by Leisler
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Muslim villagers in Mymensingh district eager to rid the area of the Christian work of a local pastor have gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter. Pastor Motilal Das of United Bethany Church said that at around 3 a.m. on Friday (May 2) the villagers sexually assaulted his daughter, Elina Das, and left her unconscious in front of his house in an attempt to drive him and his Christian ministry out of Laksmipur village in Fulbaria sub-district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital.
Local residents have long been angry with him for his ministry and evangelism, he said, and he has received death threats. “I did not pay attention to any of the threats or hindrances – I continued evangelical and pastoral activities with prayer,” Das told Compass. “They targeted me to evict from this area to stop the Christian activities. When nothing stopped me, then they wanted to leave me scarred for life, so that I would be upset and not be able to show my face to the society for shame, and therefore I would leave the village.”
Das, who became the first Christian in the area in 1986 and has been key in an increase to more than 250 Christians and the emergence of 12 churches, said the brutal attack was pre-planned and calculated to stop further expansion of Christianity in northern Bangladesh.
“Otherwise, why would they rape such a minor girl?” he said.
Elina Das is the only Christian student at her school, he said. “Always local boys used to tease her on her way to school,” he said, “and used to tell her filthy words against Christianity and western culture.”
Five villagers attacked her when she went from her thatched house to an outdoor latrine, said investigating officer Sanwar Hossen of Fulbaria police station.
“Five people lying in ambush in the pitch-dark near the toilet snatched her by gagging her mouth with her body scarf [and taking her] to a nearby tea stall, 400 meters from the house, where they gang-raped her,” Hossen said.
Besides the religious opposition of some residents, the officer said villagers had no personal or commercial conflicts with the Das family that could serve as a motive for the assault.
“There was no family vendetta or personal clash or enmity of Motilal with the local people for which his daughter would be raped,” Hossen said. “There was even no land dispute between him and the neighbors, because he does not have any land.”
Family members found Elina Das lying unconscious in front of the house that morning. “When I woke up in the early morning, I saw my daughter lying unconscious in front of my house,” Das said. “ A few hours after the gang rape, they had left her in front of my house.”
Das said he suspected friends of the rapists and perhaps some of the rapists themselves observed them as they went to the police station to file charges, as they later threatened to harm them if they did not withdraw the case, he said. “I have received death threats against my entire family if I do not withdraw the case,” Das told Compass. “We, all the family members, were afraid and took shelter in the same police station, where my wife, daughter, son and I stayed for two days and one night.”
Elina Das has identified two of the rapists and could identify the others if she saw them or their pictures, said Das. Police have arrested Shebul Miah, 22. The girl identified another suspect, 32-year-old Dulal Miah, alias Dulu, who remains at large.
Fearful of his life if he returned to his home, Das relocated to the home of a friend in Dhaka on Saturday (May 3).
Derelict Police
When Das initially went to police to file charges, he said, police were reluctant to register the case. “Police told me that it was a false case,” Das said. “They also said that it was a fabricated drama. Police spoke with my daughter in filthy language and showed prurient interest in the details of the incident in front of us rather than filing the case quickly.”
Area Assembly of God (AG) pastor Sento Mir requested that the local denominational chairman encourage police to file charges. Following a phone call from him on Friday (May 2), police immediately agreed to investigate the incident and filed a rape case in the afternoon.
Area Muslims expressed their outrage at the brutal incident, and they are afraid that the assailants are backed by powerful people, Das said.
“We know Motilal Das as a good man in the locality, though he is a Christian,” said a Muslim neighbor, 42-year-old Ruhul Amin, who owns a tea stall in the nearby area. “He had not any personal clash or enmity with others in the village.”
Mir, the AG pastor, said Das will not be able to return to the area unless justice is served. “If the arrested rapist is not judged properly and is released from jail without any judgment, Motilal Das cannot live in this area,” Mir said. “He along with his family members should leave the village, otherwise they will be in serious trouble.”
Likewise, he added, if the identified absconding rapist is not caught and convicted, the family will no longer be able to live in the area.
Bangladesh on ‘Watch List’
The day of the rape, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) announced annual recommendations for countries to be designated “Countries of Particular Concern,” but it did not include Bangladesh.
Rather, the commission put Bangladesh on its “Watch List” due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government. Other countries on the Watch List are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
According to USCIRF, Islamist radicalism and violence, the threat of serious violence and continued discrimination against members of religious minority communities remain significant concerns in Bangladesh.
This makes me sick.
This is outrageous but after the assault, the most distressing comment in this article is about Area Muslims being afraid that the assailants are backed by powerful people. How do those “powerful people” get power? Do they get power by praying five times a day or do they get power by doing just the sort of assault this article is about.
Get some fresh ammo and go get them.
IF this is reported in the US press, the word “M*****” will be omitted.
They get power from the demons they serve and pray to daily.
Among the points McCarthy made in the interview is that contrary to the myth that Islam is a religion of peace there is in fact a call to terrorism in the Koran. Here's an excerpt from McCarthy's interview:
"Well, I was the lead prosecutor, and that informant turned out to be the main witness in the case, and he was my witness, so I spent, you know, quite a bit of time studying what he had done and also, you know, having to do the other odds and ends that you do when you do a case like this, one of which was to try to get prepared in the event the Blind Sheik decided to testify, which, you know, ultimately he didn't do but that didn't mean we didn't have to prepare for it. And that was an eye-opener. In fact, the whole experience in watching the dynamic of him and other people in the Muslim community throughout the trial was a real eye-opener for me. I wanted to believe in 1993 the stuff that we were putting out, you know, that he basically perverted who was otherwise a peaceful doctrine. But what I found was going through all of his thousands of pages of transcripts and statements, was that when he cited scripture to justify acts of terrorism, to the extent he was quoting scripture or referring to it, he did it accurately, which shouldn't be a surprise."
You mean like how most news reports report occasionally ‘Hispanic’ male, and always ‘white’ male, but hardly ever ‘black’ male in crime reports?
Having known Christian missionaries who work in Muslins countries, this is a remarkable accomplishment.
Very sad that these evil men have resorted to this level of intimidation, raping little girls, which means only one thing, this Christian is effective and the forces of darkness are trembling.
George Harrison would be proud.
Terrorists get power the same way as gangs in the ‘hood do, they unite in evil. Fear among the citizens is spreading. When we cannot walk our streets alone and feel safe, we allow hoodlums to take over our lives.
We must show strength and stop this hatred. Only if we unite against this evil, will we ever see peace in our neighborhoods again.
More Christian attack from the Religion of Pieces. NOthing more than a Satanic Cult.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Religion of Peace at it again!
You know what really gets me! When muslims in America look blankly in the TV camera and say “I don’t know why we are so hated” My big fat white Queen Latifa ass! They know darn well why they are hated.
A. Start at six years old instead of 13!
Is it any wonder they are the way they are? They worship satan!
Carpet bombing,anyone?
Anyone who honestly thinks ISLAM is NOT a cult of death apparently has no pulse...
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