Escape from a forced 'marriage'

Isolation

In southern Xinjiang, many people who were once in thrall to religious extremists said they faced enormous pressure and felt isolated if they didn't follow the rules.

"If I didn't go to the illegal underground prayer sessions, my friends would refuse to hang out with me because I was not a good person," said Adil Abliz, from Gulebage.

"I was terrified at one session when I heard a dozen people talking about killing people to go to heaven," said the 22-year-old, who attended such sessions from age 14.

The pressure caused him to drop out of senior high school. As a result, he can speak Putonghua, but is unable to write characters. "I can't find a good job because I can't write. I will try my best to improve my language skills at the center," he said.

Aburat Abliz, 20, broke the law by concealing a religious extremist who was wanted by the police. He is now studying at a center in Yutian.

"Many young people attended illegal prayer sessions back then. The religious extremists made us feel excluded if we hung out with people who chose not to come to the sessions," said the 20-year-old from Xianbaibazha, Yutian.

Mutalif Memetmin, 29, from Yulongkashi township, Hotan city, said: "When I got married in 2013, the ceremony was full of music and laughter. After I became infected with religious extremist thoughts by browsing foreign websites, I would walk out the door if there was any singing and dancing at a ceremony. I believed it was wrong, although like all Uygurs I love singing."

Abudulsemat Matixrep, a restaurant owner from Yutian, said, "If I didn't use different colored plates for Uygur and Han Chinese customers at my restaurant in Hotan, the 'religious police' would come and tell me I would go to hell."

To keep his small business alive, he started following the rules imposed by the extremists, and gradually he began to think like one, he said.

"The pressure from religious extremists is too much, and no one dares stand up to them. Religious extremism has influenced many people and caused many terrorist attacks because people believe they will go to heaven. The attacks happened right on our doorsteps, and I even knew one victim who was a Uygur," he said.

"If I sank deep enough, maybe I would also be capable of doing such things."