Report raises alarm over growing abductions, forced marriages of Christian girls in Pakistan

Islamabad, May 14 Roughly 1,000 girls, many of whom are Christians, are kidnapped from their homes every year in Pakistan. These girls are found months later, after they have been forced to convert to Islam and marry older Muslim men, a report has stated.

When a girl's parents approach the court, they are often not able to provide a birth certificate to prove that she is underage, resulting in judges often giving the custody of the girl to man and not offering the parents any chance to meet their daughter again, International Christian Concern (ICC) said in a report highlighting stories of five Christian girls whose lives have been upended and threatened due to society's acceptance of child brides.

Usman Ali kidnapped Sabir at gunpoint on July 3, 2025 after the latter rejected former's marriage proposal. After the parents challenged the man in court, Ali submitted a forged marriage certificate, claiming Sabir had converted to Islam and married him as per her own free will.

Sabir's family continued fighting despite the judge allowing Ali to take her home. In September last year, Sabir's family approached Lahore High Court. After analysing proofs of threats and coercion, the court ordered Ali to return Sabir to her family.

The report stated, "Earlier this year, Sabir got engaged to a Christian man. When Ali learned of her engagement, he fired gunshots at her family’s home on April 20. Since then, her family has moved from place to place every few days to survive."

In July last year, Maria Shahbaz was kidnapped from her home, forced to convert to Islam and married against her will. Despite her father telling the court that she was 13 years old at the time of her kidnapping and presented documents to prove it, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court stated that Maria Shahbaz was of “mature age” and could live with the 40-year-old man accused of kidnapping her.

Shaheen (12), a Christian girl from Pakistan's Faisalabad, was kidnapped in 2020. Six months later, the authorities found her chained and confined to a cattle pen at the home of a 45-year-old Muslim man on December 5, 2020. She had bruises and other marks on her body. The man, Khizar Ahmad Ali, forced Shaheen to convert to Islam and marry him against her will, according to the report.

Later, Shaheen, likely out of fear, said in the court that she had converted to Islam and married Ali of her own will. However, her family continued the legal fight and court in February 2021, gave the custody of Shaheen to her family.

In 2019, then 14-year-old Huma Younus was kidnapped from her home in Karachi when her parents were away. She was forced to convert to Islam and marry her kidnapper, Abdul Jabbar. Despite her family’s desperate attempts to seek justice, the courts did not consider her suffering.

"Masih, a 10-year-old girl from Faisalabad, was abducted by a 40-year-old man practicing polygamy with three wives. Eventually, he gave her to another man named Shoukat Shah. Laiba’s parents tirelessly searched for her and eventually found her with Shah. They approached him and asked him to return their daughter," the report in International Christian Concern stated.

"Shah declined, arguing that he had converted Masih to Islam; therefore, she could not be returned to her Christian parents. Christian activists publicly expressed their dismay and assisted the family in filing a complaint against Shah. While they were able to prove that Masih was underage, Masih insisted in 2024 that she would remain with her Muslim husband," it added.

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