Pakistan, two rebel hearts

Pakistan - fleeing an unjust law

She is a Muslim and he is a Christian. The law stands between them. Following family feuds they have fled in search of a better life

MAURO PIANTA turin
Hopefully now that they have hidden themselves and are safe, no one will be able to touch Salma and Stephen. The names are fictional but their story, unfortunately, is not.  

Their relationship could have been like that of any young boy and girl from any country in the world. It could have been, but this is Pakistan. In Kharian, a city between Islamabad and Lahore, a Muslim woman cannot fall in love with a Christian man, let alone marry him. The law makes sure of that.

Salma and Stephen met at high school. At first the law seemed to far away. They fell in love and continued seeing each other in secret even after starting university: he studied IT and she studied literature.

 But the law is vigilant and merciless. The Vatican Insider learnt from anonymous local sources that last May, the voice of the law spoke through the girl’s mother: “Forget it, you know how it works. You have to forget about him…” The answer she got in reply was not much appreciated by established order. Then Salma’s brother came on the scene. Apparently “He started screaming at his sister. Then he went and had an argument with Stephen’s brothers and the whole thing ended in a punch up.”

 Salma’s family decided to ground her. “She’ll have time to think things over better this way.” But she sneak a mobile phone into her room. And so, trapped in the nightmare she found herself in, she managed to keep in touch with Stephen for quite a while, exchanging a few words each night. Finally made a decision: it was better to escape than suppress their feelings. Their souls were on the brink of hell, they met in the dark, after an entire day filled with tears and prayers.

In the morning, Salma’s father was overflowing with rage: “It was the Christians. Now we will kidnap any Christian girl we find nearby.” The parents of Christian families in the neighbourhood are having to let their daughters flee. And even Stephen’s relatives have been forced to escape.
 
Hopefully no one can touch Salma and Stephen any more. But some one had better do something to touch up that awful law.