Maria Shahbaz’s mother and father with rights activist Safdar Chaudhry and lawyer Rana Abdul Hameed after federal court docket ruling on Feb. 3, 2026. (Fb)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Day by day Worldwide–Morning Star Information) – A court docket in Pakistan on Wednesday (March 25) upheld the wedding of a forcibly transformed 13-year-old Christian woman to the Muslim man accused of kidnapping her, sending a wave of anguish and alarm by means of the Christian group.
Christian rights advocates and civil society teams strongly condemned the decision by the Federal Constitutional Courtroom (FCC), which granted custody of younger Maria Shahbaz to Shehryar Ahmad, a 30-year-old Muslim alleged to have forcibly transformed and married her.
Maria was kidnapped on July 29, and since then, her household has repeatedly sought judicial intervention to get well her, with out success.
In an in depth judgment issued on March 25 – practically two months after its brief order on Feb. 3 – a two-judge bench comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha dominated that Maria was of “mature age” and due to this fact within the lawful custody of her “husband.”
The court docket held that sharia (Islamic regulation) permits Muslim males to marry girls from Ahl al-Kitab (Folks of the E book), and located that Maria’s conversion to Islam was legitimate. It said that no formal rituals are required for conversion past a declaration of religion, accepting an affidavit hooked up to the alleged faux marriage certificates and a Islamic seminary-issued certificates as adequate proof.
“In Islam, no particular rituals are required for a non-Muslim to be thought to be having embraced the religion,” the judgment said, including {that a} declaration affirming core beliefs is adequate to determine conversion. “What’s required is a declaration and recitation of the Kalima, with perception within the Oneness of Allah, the Finality of the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and the Holy Quran, in addition to perception in earlier Prophets, Divine Scriptures, and the Day of Judgment.”
Addressing assertions by Maria’s father, Shahbaz Masih, that she was a 12-year-old minor on the time of the unlawful marriage, the court docket dismissed documentary proof of her age as “unreliable.” The judges cited inconsistencies within the father’s preliminary police report and delays within the issuance of official information, together with her start registration and Nationwide Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) paperwork.
The ruling additionally pointed to discrepancies in household information, together with a slender hole between the reported start dates of Maria and her youthful sibling. It additional famous that Maria herself had listed her date of start as Feb. 1, 2007, within the marriage certificates and appeared older in court docket.
“Her bodily look earlier than the court docket additionally suggests a extra superior age,” the judgment said, concluding that the out there paperwork couldn’t be relied upon to determine that she was a minor.
Verdict Reviled
The controversial judgment drew sharp criticism from rights teams and activists, who argue that the court docket disregarded key proof and prior findings indicating that the wedding was illegal.
Safdar Chaudhry, whose Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry offered authorized help to the Masih household, stated the court docket had ignored vital investigative materials.
“The judges missed the police’s reinvestigation report, the reinstated FIR [First Information Report], and testimony from the investigating officer indicating that an unlawful marriage had been contracted with a minor, with no official file on the related union council,” Chaudhry informed Christian Day by day Worldwide-Morning Star Information. “Additionally they failed to contemplate that the woman remained within the custody of the accused for over six months, elevating severe issues about coercion.”
The rights defender additionally questioned the two-month delay in issuing the detailed judgment, calling it a “travesty of justice,” and stated the household would problem the ruling earlier than a bigger bench.
“If superior courts refuse to acknowledge official start paperwork, there may be little hope for shielding underage minority women,” Chaudhry stated.
Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy for Asia at ADF Worldwide, described the decision as “deeply alarming” for Pakistan’s spiritual minorities, notably Christian and Hindu minority communities.
“The court docket can not attribute authorized capability or consent to a minor primarily based solely on her assertion whereas ignoring documentary proof,” she stated. “In such circumstances, claims of consent are sometimes made underneath coercion, notably the place weak minority women face systemic stress and intimidation.”
Human rights advocates say the case displays a broader and recurring sample in Pakistan, the place minority women – some reportedly as younger as 10 – are kidnapped, forcibly transformed and married to Muslim males. Victims are ceaselessly pressured to provide statements in favor of their alleged abductors, whereas courts usually low cost official age paperwork and validate such unions, returning women to their alleged captors as “authorized wives.”
In a strongly-worded assertion, the Minority Rights March (MRM) stated it was “appalled” by the FCC’s ruling.
“The court docket not solely refused to revive custody of the sufferer to her father however successfully legitimized her continued cohabitation along with her abductor underneath the guise of a ‘Nikah,’ [Islamic marriage certificate]” the assertion stated. “Whereas baby marriage is acknowledged as a criminal offense, declaring the wedding itself legitimate is self-contradictory and undermines the very goal of kid marriage restraint legal guidelines.”
The group additionally criticized the court docket for endorsing a coerced spiritual conversion.
“It’s alarming that the best judicial discussion board has delivered a verdict that dangers emboldening those that abduct and abuse minor women from minority communities underneath the quilt of marriage,” the assertion stated, warning that the ruling may weaken constitutional protections for spiritual minorities.
MRM urged the Lawyer Normal of Pakistan to hunt a overview of the judgment and referred to as on lawmakers to strengthen baby marriage legal guidelines, together with provisions that might render such marriages void from the outset.
It additionally referred to as on prosecutors to pursue felony proceedings underneath present legal guidelines and to get well Maria from the custody of the accused.
“This verdict has neither resolved the query of the sufferer’s age nor addressed the underlying felony allegations,” the assertion stated. “The state should act to make sure justice isn’t denied.”
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.
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