Islamabad, March 4 : A minority Christian boy in Pakistan was forcibly converted to Islam, highlighting yet another case of injustice against vulnerable communities, said a leading minority rights group.

According to the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), 14-year-old Jameel Masih, from Sheikhupura district in Punjab, had worked at a local landlordâ??s cattle shed for five years before being abducted. His father, Sharif Masih, a daily wage labourer, had exchanged his sonâ??s labour for five maunds of wheat a year --as "survival left little room for choice".

"For five long years, Jameel toiled under Muhammad Boota Bajwa, a wealthy landowner in Punjab Province. Then, on February 22, Jameelâ??s parents went to see their boy â?? only to be told that he no longer wished to meet them. They begged, they cried, and only after local elders intervened did Bajwa reluctantly release the boy. But their reunion lasted barely a few hours," the VOPM stated.

"Under the cover of darkness, Bajwa returned â?? this time with guns and force. He dragged Jameel away from his parentsâ?? trembling hands as their screams pierced the night. Since that night, the boy has not been seen again," it added.

The rights body highlighted that days later, a video surfaced on social media â?? showing Jameel, wearing an Islamic cap, with a Muslim hymn playing in the background.

Local community, the rights body said, confirmed their worst fear: "Jameel had been forcibly converted to Islam".

The VOPM noted that with help from HARDS Pakistan, a Christian advocacy group, Sharif Masih filed a complaint at the local police station. Sohail Habil, the groupâ??s chief executive, condemned the act as a gross violation of human rights, while pledging to take the matter to the Lahore High Court.

"The Masih family has been subjected to extreme injustice. We will not rest until this child is recovered," the VOPM quoted Habil as saying.

Human rights activists stated that Jameelâ??s case reveals the dark intersection of poverty, faith, and feudal power.

Asserting that forced conversions are often a disguise for bonded labour, Napolean Qayyum, a noted Pakistani rights activist, said: "When minority children are converted, itâ??s rarely about faith â?? itâ??s about control. And Pakistan still has no federal law criminalising forced conversions of minors."

"Tragically, stories like Jameelâ??s are not rare in Pakistanâ??s Christian and Hindu communities. In Sindh and Punjab, rights groups like the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) continue to document cases â?? most involving young girls who vanish, only to reappear as claimed converts and child brides," the VOPM mentioned.

/IANS