A YOUNG student volunteer blasted the world’s “silence” on the persecution of Pakistani Christians.

Hannah Chowdhry, a student at Kantor King Solomon High School, Barkingside, addressed hundreds of people outside Westminster Cathedral on a day known as Red Wednesday.

The 13-year-old, who volunteers with the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), accused the world of saying nothing about the 700 Christian girls kidnapped, raped and forced into Islamic marriages every year in Pakistan.

Ms Chowdhry said: "Most people around the world know about the kidnapping of 276 girls from Chibook in Nigeria, a crime that shocked the globe.

“Yet though 700 girls are believed to be raped and forced into Islamic marriage every year, no-one bats an eyelid. In fact the world stays silent.

"When I think of what these girls have had to go through I shudder, I would feel totally lost in a similar situation and am sure I would lose all hope. So I choose to speak out for them."

The figure comes from a report from the Movement of Solidarity and Peace, an Islamic non-governmental organisation.

Red Wednesday, now in its second year, saw Anglican and Catholic churches in Britain, Ireland, Iraq and the Philippines lit up in red to highlight persecution of Christians on faith grounds.