Islamabad: A federal court in Pakistan has given custody of a 13-year-old Christian girl, identified as Maria Shahbaz, to a Muslim man who had abducted her, converted her to Islam, and married her, a report has revealed.
Birth Certificate Rejected by Court
Judges did not accept the birth certificate presented by the parents of Maria Shahbaz, that proved her age. Safdar Chaudhry, chairperson of rights group Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry, stated that the judges also rejected the earlier judicial findings that the marriage was illegal, according to The European Conservative, citing Christian Daily International–Morning Star News.
Parents of the 13-year-old girl have been devastated by the court’s verdict. The girl’s father, Shahbaz Masih, who is a driver, stated that his neighbour kidnapped Maria Shahbaz on July 29 last year when she was going to a nearby shop. Since then, her family has repeatedly requested judicial intervention to find her.
Pattern of Forced Conversions Alleged
“Such cases follow a recurring pattern. Every year in Pakistan, an estimated 1,000 girls and young women from religious minorities (many of whom are Christians) face abduction, rape, forced marriage to their much older abductors, coerced conversion to Islam, and various other forms of abuse,” Uzay Bulut wrote in a report in The European Conservative.
Pakistan’s Ranking on World Watch List
Pakistan has been ranked at the eighth spot in the 2026 World Watch List of Open Doors, which monitors Christian persecution across the world.
The organisation noted that Christian women are also targeted with acid attacks, workplace harassment, blasphemy allegations and honour killings. It mentioned that many Christian women remain trapped in debt-bonded labour, such as brick kilns, where they face additional sexual violence and exploitation.
Open Doors stressed that Christian men in Pakistan also face constant threat of blasphemy allegations, false imprisonment, torture, and execution. Murders are common if men are accused of insulting Islam while whole families face difficulty after false charges.
A report in The European Conservative stated that in small towns and remote villages, Christian children have to attend Islamic teaching at local madrassas while Christian teaching is restricted to Sunday services. It added that Christian children are often bullied and allegedly made to perform cleaning tasks due to social discrimination.