Amina, a Christian Pakistani nurse, has been continuously harassed by one of her Muslim colleagues at the hospital where she works. Using either bribes or derogatory and abusive comments, he has been trying to convert her to Islam and force her to marry him. Refusing his advances and requests, the situation escalated when he approached her with two Islamic clerics outside the hospital in an attempt to force her into marriage. Amina resisted, and as a result the doctor presented a document to the hospital authorities, connecting this with a previous incident relating to Amina’s husband, and presented them both as anti-Muslim episodes. While Amina also filed a complaint against him, the doctor’s conduct was never investigated but Amina was suspended from her job.
Threats and harassment continued and Amina decided to seek help. PoC has granted Amina £450 for access to a safe house, legal fees and basic living expenses whilst she is suspended from her job. Amina’s story is an emblematic case of the pressure and harassment religious minorities in Pakistan are facing.
