Maria Shahbaz’s dad and mom with rights activist Safdar Chaudhry and lawyer Rana Abdul Hameed (R) after federal court docket ruling on Feb. 3, 2026. (Fb)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Day by day Worldwide–Morning Star Information) – A federal court docket in Pakistan on Tuesday (Feb. 3) gave custody of a 13-year-old Christian woman to a Muslim who kidnapped and forcibly transformed and married her, sources stated.
The dad and mom of Maria Shahbaz have been devastated on the ruling after the two-judge bench of the newly constituted Federal Constitutional Court docket (FCC) rejected her official beginning report and disregarded earlier judicial findings that the wedding was unlawful, stated Safdar Chaudhry, chairperson of rights group Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry.
Justice Karim Khan Agha and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi accepted Maria’s assertion, which her dad and mom and their lawyer say was given beneath coercion, that she had transformed to Islam and married 30-year-old Shehryar Ahmad of her personal free will, Chaudhry stated.
“We have been hopeful that the court docket would think about the woman’s official beginning doc (B-Kind) and the periods court docket order confirming that the accused had contracted an unlawful marriage with a minor,” Chaudhry instructed Christian Day by day Worldwide–Morning Star Information. “Even the investigating officer knowledgeable the court docket that no marriage report existed on the related union council, but this was ignored.”
Chaudhry stated the court docket additionally failed to think about that the woman had remained within the custody of the suspect for greater than six months, elevating critical issues about coercion.
“The judges ought to have taken under consideration that she was possible to present a press release within the accused’s favor beneath duress,” he stated. “It’s deeply disappointing that the court docket didn’t present a protected and conducive setting for recording her testimony.”
Maria was kidnapped on July 29, he stated. Since then, her household has repeatedly sought judicial intervention to recuperate her, with out success.
Chaudhry, whose ministry is offering authorized help to the woman’s father, Shahbaz Masih, additionally criticized police for what he described as inaction and leniency towards the suspect.
“After police discharged the kidnapping FIR [First Information Report] primarily based on the woman’s assertion earlier than a Justice of the Peace, we approached the periods court docket looking for her custody,” Chaudhry stated. “Though the court docket didn’t grant custody, it ordered police to research the wedding paperwork.”
The investigation concluded that the wedding certificates was fabricated, a discovering confirmed by the secretary of the related union council in court docket, he stated. The household then requested a reinvestigation from the senior superintendent of Lahore police.
“After a month-long inquiry, a deputy superintendent restored the FIR and added further costs,” he stated. “But the police made no try to arrest the accused, who didn’t even search pre-arrest bail and continued showing in court docket with out worry. This brazen conduct factors to police collusion with the abductor.”
Chaudhry additionally expressed concern over remarks made by one FCC choose who rejected Maria’s B-Kind and questioned her age.
“The choose requested why the household registered her with NADRA [National Database and Registration Authority] in 2022 as a substitute of at beginning, after which acknowledged that the woman didn’t look like 13 years outdated and regarded a lot older,” he stated.
He warned that the ruling set a harmful precedent.
“If superior courts refuse to acknowledge official beginning paperwork, there’s little hope for safeguarding minor women,” Chaudhry stated.
He added that the household and their authorized crew are contemplating submitting a evaluate petition and pursuing different authorized and advocacy avenues.
“We’ll strategy all accessible boards to spotlight systemic flaws that enable perpetrators to sexually exploit minor women with impunity beneath the guise of non secular conversion and marriage,” he stated.
Masih, a driver and father of 5, stated his neighbor, Ahmad, kidnapped his daughter when she stepped outdoors their dwelling to go to a close-by store. Masih filed an FIR at Nawab City Police Station in Lahore, however police later knowledgeable him that Maria had recorded a press release on July 31 earlier than Mannequin City Judicial Justice of the Peace Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema, claiming she had transformed to Islam and married Ahmad voluntarily.
Human rights advocates say such circumstances observe a recurring sample in Pakistan, the place women, some as younger as 10, are kidnapped, forcibly transformed and sexually abused beneath the duvet of Islamic “marriages.” Victims are sometimes pressured to report statements favoring their abductors, whereas courts incessantly disregard documentary proof of age and return the youngsters to their alleged kidnappers as “authorized wives.”
In Could 2025, President Asif Ali Zardari signed a landmark invoice elevating the minimal marriage age to 18 for each genders within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The legislation was enacted regardless of robust opposition from Islamist teams, together with the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Pakistan’s prime Islamic advisory physique.
The CII argued that defining marriage beneath the age of 18 as rape was inconsistent with sharia (Islamic legislation).
An identical invoice has remained pending within the Punjab Provincial Meeting since April 25, 2024. In Punjab, the authorized minimal age of marriage for ladies stays 16. On the nationwide degree, the Christian Marriage (Modification) Act 2024 raised the marriageable age to 18 for Christians; nonetheless, if Christian women convert to Islam, they’re handled as Muslims beneath sharia, which permits marriage at a youthful age.
Pakistan, the place greater than 96 % of the inhabitants is Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doorways’ 2026 World Watch Checklist of nations the place Christians face essentially the most extreme persecution.
If you need to assist persecuted Christians, go to https://morningstarnews.org/assets/aid-agencies/ for a listing of organizations that may orient you on tips on how to become involved.
In the event you or your group wish to assist allow Morning Star Information to proceed elevating consciousness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please think about collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?
###
© 2026 Morning Star Information. Articles/images could also be reprinted with credit score to Morning Star Information. https://morningstarnews.org
Tweet: https://twitter.com/morningstarnewz/
Fb: https://www.fb.com/MorningStarNews
Morning Star Information is a 501(c)(3) non-profit company that depends solely on contributions to supply authentic information studies of persecuted Christians. By offering dependable information on the struggling church, Morning Star Information’ mission is to empower these within the free world to assist and to encourage persecuted Christians that they aren’t forgotten or alone. Totally free subscription, contact editor@morningstarnews.org; to make tax-deductible donations, go to https://morningstarnews.org/donate/? or ship test to Morning Star Information, 34281 Doheny Park Rd., # 7022, Capistrano Seashore, CA 92624, USA.
The submit Muslim Kidnapper of Christian Woman in Pakistan Given Custody, Sources Say appeared first on Morningstar Information.
