Courts legitimise abuse of minors

“Christian girls are being abducted, forced to convert, and forced to marry their abductors. These acts are often legitimised by the courts, despite clear violations of national and international law. Between 2021 and 2024, at least 137 Christian girls were documented as victims of such crimes,” reports Aneeqa Anthony, coordinator of the organisation “The Voice Society,” in her video message for the recent ISHR annual meeting.

Fear and outrage are currently spreading among members of the small Christian minority (less than two percent of the population) in Pakistan, she wrote to us shortly before the meeting: The trigger is the scandalous ruling by Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court on March 25, 2026, which upheld the legality of the forced marriage between a 13-year-old Christian girl named Maria and her 30-year-old Muslim kidnapper, Shehryar Ahmad. The man, who abducted her on July 29, 2025, also forced her to renounce her Christian faith. Courts frequently ignore proof of age and return the children to their abusers as their “legitimate” wives.

The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) has been supporting victims of such injustices for years, including Maira Shahbaz, now 20 years old. In April 2020, three men abducted the then almost 14-year-old at gunpoint, forced her to convert to Islam, and compelled her to marry one of her abductors. Her family subsequently filed a lawsuit to challenge her abductor’s marriage certificates, which stated that Shahbaz was 19 years old. In August 2020, the appeals court in Lahore ruled that Shahbaz should be returned to the custody of her abductor. “That was a very bad time for me. I don’t even want to remember it. I thank God that I’m home today. Back then, I felt like I was going to die – either by throwing myself in front of a car or by taking something. I was constantly crying and extremely desperate,” she recalls in a video interview shown at the Stephanus Special Prize ceremony for the Hamburg “Chain of Lights for Persecuted Christians” on the sidelines of this year’s ISHR annual meeting.

That same month after the verdict, Shahbaz fled and returned to her family. Because the perpetrator had threatened to kill them, they went into hiding together. “We went through a very difficult time. We begged for our lives, even in front of relatives, but no one helped us. They said it was too risky for them and they feared for their own lives,” she revealed, weeping. After years in hiding, Shahbaz and her family moved abroad for a time. She now lives back in Pakistan, but under constant fear. “I stay at home, but my husband says he feels like people are following him. The situation in the country is bad, and he’s afraid and therefore sometimes doesn’t go to work,” Maira Shahbaz continued.

The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) is aware that authorities in Pakistan are being pressured by radical Islamist networks to spare the kidnappers. In 2021, a draft law was introduced there that would have required identification at marriage and further raised the minimum marriage age. Extremist groups vehemently opposed it and ultimately achieved their goal, as the draft remained in place. These groups even offer rewards for the kidnapping of Christian and Hindu girls, solely to promote the expansion of the majority religion at the expense of minorities.

To provide assistance to those facing an acute threat, partner organisations have repeatedly requested help from the ISHR recently. The plan is to evacuate those affected and house them in so-called “safe houses.” We have supported them with grants for living expenses and transportation. We further want to prepare for a few months and establish a fund of €6,000 for these emergencies.