Islamabad, Jan 16 (NationPress) A federal court in Pakistan has instructed the police to locate and present a 13-year-old Christian girl who was reportedly kidnapped, converted, and married against her will to a Muslim man, as per local media sources.

A two-judge panel of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has mandated the police to bring Maria Shahbaz and 30-year-old Shehryar Ahmad to court. Attorney Rana Abdul Hameed stated that Ahmad abducted Maria on July 29 of the previous year, forcibly converted her to Islam, and subsequently married her, according to Christian Daily International.

Justices Ali Baqar Najafi and Karim Khan Agha accepted the petition submitted by Maria's father, Shahbaz Masih.

“After our recovery petitions were denied by the Lahore sessions court and the Lahore High Court, we opted to appeal these decisions before the FCC,” Christian Daily International-Morning Star News quoted Hameed as stating.

“We informed the court that the girl is a minor and is being subjected to sexual assault under the pretense of Islamic conversion and marriage,” Hameed added.

According to Hameed, the Lahore police allegedly colluded with the accused, leading to the magistrate court dismissing the complaint from the girl's family. He remarked, “The girl was compelled to give a statement asserting she willingly converted to Islam and wed Ahmad.”

“She also falsely claimed to be an adult, despite official documents indicating that she is a minor and below the legal marriage age as stipulated by provincial child marriage laws, which forbid the marriage of girls under 16,” Hameed stated, as quoted by Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Shahbaz Masih, a driver and father of five, reported that his neighbor, Ahmad, kidnapped his daughter while she was on her way to a nearby shop. Masih filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the Nawab Town Police Station in Lahore. However, police informed him that Maria had recorded a statement on July 31, 2025, before Model Town Judicial Magistrate Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema, claiming she willingly converted to Islam and married Ahmad.

A report by Christian Daily International noted, “Rights advocates indicate that such incidents follow a common pattern in Pakistan, where abducted girls, some as young as 10, are taken, forcibly converted to Islam, and raped under the guise of Islamic 'marriages.' Victims are often pressured to give false statements in favor of their captors, while judges frequently overlook age-related documentary evidence and return these children to their abductors as 'legal wives.'”

Additionally, reports reveal that religious minorities in Pakistan encounter systemic discrimination and face challenges such as fabricated blasphemy allegations, mob violence, targeted killings, land grabbing, forced conversions, arbitrary detention, and destruction of property, including places of worship.

On December 26, 2025, a 15-year-old Hindu girl, Premi Bhil, was seized from Sindh province, forcibly converted to Islam, renamed Kulsoom Sheikh, and married to a man over 30 years old who was already married. On December 6, 2025, a Hindu woman and her minor daughter were abducted by armed men in Karachi's Sher Shah area, as per a report from Sri Lanka Guardian.

Moreover, on December 5, 2025, a pastor, Kamran Salamat, was fatally shot by armed assailants in Punjab's Gujranwala. This incident marked the second targeted attack on Salamat, who had previously survived an attack in September of the prior year.

On October 10, 2025, an Ahmadi place of worship, Bait-ul-Mehdi, was attacked during Friday prayers in Punjab province's Chinab Nagar, injuring at least six worshippers. Additionally, approximately 80 Christian families faced mob violence in Punjab's Sahiwal on August 8, 2025, leading to many victims being charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act and subjected to police brutality.

A report by Sri Lanka Guardian indicated, “According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom's Annual Report for 2025, of Pakistan's estimated population of 252 million, 96.5% are Muslim (85-90% Sunni and 10-15% Shia), with only 3.5% identifying with other religious groups, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs.”

“Religious minorities in Pakistan experience systemic discrimination and endure harassment, entrapment in fabricated blasphemy allegations, physical assaults, lynching, mob violence, targeted killings, land grabbing, forced conversions, arbitrary detention, and destruction of their properties, including places of worship and cemeteries,” it emphasized.