Recently, a growing list has been compiled of 629 Pakistani women sold to be wed to Chinese men. Samiya David, who was sold by her brother spent only two short months in China. Investigations have found that her brother was contacted by marriage brokers targeting the impoverished Christian communities in Pakistan. Before her departure David was described as a strong, healthy young women with a lively spirit. She returned to Pakistan extremely underweight; she was so malnourished that she struggled to walk. When her family started to ask questions of what had happened to her, her sole response was, “Don’t ask me about what happened to me there”. A couple of weeks following her return, David passed away due to “natural causes”. In an interview done questioning David’s death, Dr. Meet Khan Tareen told of several possible ailments found in preliminary tests, including organ failure due to severe malnutrition. David’s case is one of several; there are so many young women who are being forced to endure such poor treatment. Another young Pakistani women, Samia Yousef, was promised a life of prosperity by her family with her brokered Chinese husband. When she arrived in China, she found that her life would be nothing close to what she was promised. She was forced to live in a small, moldy room that was infested with spiders. After becoming pregnant, she gave birth by cesarean section. Her husband’s family refused to let her hold her newborn, and would only allow her to see him for a brief amount of time within the following days she spent at the hospital. When the doctor suggested that she take a walk, her husband continuously let her fall on the hard concrete, then would refuse to help her get up. When she returned back to their home, he would refuse her food. When her Visa expired, he withheld her passport from her, and told her that even if she returned home that her son could not come with her. Legally, they had taken away the legs that she could stand on; her husband’s name was the only one on her son’s birth certificate, not hers. When she returned home, she told her family, “He was cruel. I thought he wanted to kill me”. With the growing number of stories of the brave women coming forward, it is crucial that the world responds. I believe it is time for the rest of the world to become involved, and for these women to find justice for the wrongs that have been committed against them.
