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By Dr. Emanuel Adil Ghauri

The sun’s fingers on the face of the earth were crying out for the awakening of the day, but when darkness dances in the chambers of the mind, even sunlight seems scarce.

Darkness—how many black things circulate in his veins like blood. The black cloak of darkness had not only made Catherine’s life miserable but had also taken away her aged father’s courage, her mother’s hope, and her brother’s pride. In her search for a bright evening, she had made a mistake that brought her to the threshold of a dark night of sorrow.

She wanted to go back, but all the ways back were closed. For whose love had she changed her religion, rejected the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, auctioned off her father’s honor, turned her old mother’s hope into shock, and made a non-Christian her companion? Today, he has become the cause of her death.

Catherine belonged to a backward village in Punjab, where her parents and brother worked in a brick kiln. Extreme poverty had turned them from laborers into slaves of the kiln owner. He had taken so much money in advance that it was impossible for them to return it. Despite this, they desired to educate their daughter so she would not live a life of slavery, so they enrolled her in the village primary school.

Catherine’s incomplete uniform and broken slippers were her hallmarks at school. She was the only Christian girl in the village who attended school. Being Christian and poor, the girls at school did not like to associate with her, but even then she did not suffer from feelings of inferiority. She had only one goal in mind—the target of her life.

The wheel of time kept spinning fast. The girl whose name was completely unknown, whose uniform was torn, whose slippers were broken, secured a unique position for her educational institution by achieving first place in the entire district in the matriculation examination. It was proven that she had enough talent to pursue further education and obtain a doctorate in engineering or any other professional degree.

But the same poverty loomed over them. After gathering some courage, Chandu Masih contacted his pastor, who gave him hope that many Christian NGOs, wealthy pastors, and large churches with abundant resources would bear the cost of their worthy daughter’s education. Chandu returned with hope in Christ and dreams of his daughter’s bright future in his eyes, believing the priest would soon bring good news.

When the priest came to their house after seven days, disappointment was evident on his face. Catherine’s mother and father were eager to hear his answer. The priest did not have the courage to tell them how their hope had turned into despair—how to tell them that people who earn millions of dollars in the name of the poor could not afford the education of this most deserving girl. They could distribute costly gifts for their good name and cheap fame and serve food worth millions of rupees at leadership conferences, but they could not afford the education of a girl child.

Ultimately, it was decided that instead of pursuing further education, Catherine would be enrolled in nursing school. With the help of the village priest, she gained admission to the nursing school of a government hospital in Lahore, and a few days later she moved into the hostel.

Unfavorable circumstances befell her there as well. Her lifestyle was completely different from the other girls in the hostel. Poverty was written on her face, which is why many girls did not get along with her. However, her roommate, Fatima, who was Muslim, understood Catherine’s constraints and was very friendly toward her. Their friendship gradually became sincere. Fatima’s mother also took great care of Catherine, cooking and sending delicious meals from home for both girls and even buying identical clothes for them.

Gradually, Catherine began visiting Fatima’s house. Fatima had only one brother, Zain Ali, who often brought Catherine from their home to the hostel. Zain did all kinds of chores for her. He worked at a car showroom, though most people believed he was the owner. He often took the showroom’s cars for personal use. All this artificial splendor was because Zain was not only a showman but also addicted to drugs.

Zain took an interest in Catherine. Although she had no interest in him, she was so burdened by the favors of his family that she could not refuse him. At Zain’s constant insistence, a friendship developed between them, which gradually turned into love, and all of Zain’s flaws began to appear as strengths to her. The girl stricken by poverty and rejected by society had a bright future in mind, but it was all based on lies.

Time flew by, and Catherine completed her nursing training and secured a job at a major hospital in the same city. Meanwhile, her love for Zain Ali continued to grow until the two decided to marry. Although Zain’s family was kind to Catherine, they were not willing to let a non-Muslim girl become their daughter-in-law. Therefore, Catherine and Zain rebelled against the circumstances and entered into a court marriage. Zain’s father became angry and kicked his son out of the house.

Catherine and Zain rented a house and began living together. Her parents were unaware of this relationship. They lived in the hope that Catherine would soon free them from the slavery of the kiln owner and take them with her. But Catherine was so engrossed in her new life that she never thought about her parents.

After two years of married life, Zain’s health began to deteriorate due to his addiction, which led to financial problems. At the same time, Catherine discovered that Zain was not the owner of the showroom but merely an employee who had been fired for involvement in the theft of a car. Now he needed Catherine not only for food and drink but also for money for drugs.

Catherine could not help her parents even if she wanted to because Zain would take her salary as soon as she received it. It reached the point where she had to do odd jobs to pay rent, electricity, and gas bills. Despite this, the situation at home did not improve. His drug use increased, requiring more money. It even reached the point where he would attack Catherine and often injure her to get money.

What she thought was a bright future had become a life of torment. Fed up with the situation, Catherine decided to separate from Zain and quietly left home for a hostel. Zain did not like this at all and became furious. He went to the nearest police station and filed a case, claiming that his wife had converted to Islam and married him against her parents’ wishes, and that her parents and brother had kidnapped her, taking jewelry and millions of rupees in cash.

When the police learned that a girl was returning to her religion after converting, they did everything they could to stop her. They went to Catherine’s house to arrest her parents and brother. When her family learned of her marriage and the FIR registered against them, her mother suffered a sudden heart attack and died before reaching the hospital. Her father suffered a stroke due to high blood pressure, and her brother was arrested and sent to jail.

When Catherine learned of the situation, she was devastated. She considered herself responsible for everything.

It was already 11 in the morning. All the girls had gone to duty, while Catherine’s room was still closed, and she had not come to the mess for breakfast. When the warden passed by her room, her phone was ringing. The warden knocked, but there was no answer, which worried her. The loud knocking drew girls from adjacent rooms, and everyone wondered why there was no sound from inside.

Finally, they broke the door and entered. Catherine’s body was hanging from the fan.

After the formalities, her body was sent for postmortem. When it was completed, there was no one to receive her body. Her mother had died of shock, her father was in the hospital with a stroke, and her brother was in prison. A charity organization buried Catherine as an abandoned body.