Kidnapped at 13–Court Calls It Marriage

Gavel and scales of justice on wooden table.

A Pakistani court just handed a 13-year-old Christian girl back to the 30-year-old Muslim man who kidnapped her, raped her, and forced her into marriage—while throwing out her birth certificate and ignoring evidence that proved the whole thing was a lie.

Story Snapshot

Federal Constitutional Court in Lahore awarded custody of Maria Shahbaz to her abductor Shehryar Ahmad on February 3, 2026, despite official documents proving her age and evidence of a fabricated marriage certificate
Maria was kidnapped on July 29, 2025, while walking to a shop near her home; within two days, she gave a statement claiming voluntary conversion and marriage while in her captor’s custody
Police investigations confirmed the marriage certificate was fake and no legitimate union council record existed, yet authorities never arrested Ahmad despite restored criminal charges
The ruling follows a documented pattern of Christian and Hindu girls in Pakistan being abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married to their kidnappers with courts prioritizing Sharia law over documentary evidence

When Courts Reject Birth Certificates and Embrace Coerced Confessions

Justices Karim Khan Agha and Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi ignored Maria Shahbaz’s official B-Form birth record when they ruled on February 3, 2026. The document clearly established she was 13 years old—a minor under any reasonable legal standard. Instead, the judges accepted her statement claiming she voluntarily converted to Islam and married Ahmad, despite the fact she made that statement after six months in her abductor’s custody. The court also disregarded findings from earlier proceedings that proved the marriage certificate was fabricated, confirmed by the union council secretary who verified no legitimate marriage record existed.

The Pattern Behind Maria’s Nightmare

Maria’s ordeal began July 29, 2025, when Shehryar Ahmad, her 30-year-old neighbor, abducted her while she walked to a shop in Lahore. Just two days later, she appeared before Model Town Judicial Magistrate Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema and gave a statement claiming she chose to convert and marry Ahmad. Police immediately discharged the kidnapping complaint her father Shahbaz Masih had filed. This sequence repeats across Pakistan with disturbing regularity. Christian and Hindu girls, some as young as 10, get targeted by Muslim men who use forced conversion and marriage as cover for sexual abuse. Courts consistently prioritize statements made under captivity over concrete evidence.

The sessions court later ordered a police investigation that exposed the fraudulent marriage documents. The deputy superintendent even restored the criminal complaint and added charges against Ahmad. Yet police never arrested him. Ahmad continued appearing in court proceedings without hindrance, suggesting a protection network operated in his favor. Safdar Chaudhry, chairperson of Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry who provides legal aid to the Shahbaz family, directly accused police of collusion with the abductor. The evidence supports his claim—why else would a man facing kidnapping and rape charges walk free for months?

Sharia Law Versus Civil Protections for Minors

Pakistan’s legal framework creates this nightmare scenario by design. Punjab province sets the minimum marriage age for girls at 16, while national law raised it to 18 for Christians in 2024. However, once a girl is declared converted to Islam, Sharia law applies instead—and Sharia permits marriage below 18. The Council of Islamic Ideology, which shapes religious policy, actively opposes laws banning marriage under 18 as un-Islamic. A bill to raise Punjab’s marriage age has languished since April 2024. This legal gap transforms forced conversion into a tool for legalizing child marriage and rape.

Courts treat the conversion statement as transformative, instantly reclassifying a child as an adult Muslim woman capable of choosing marriage. The fact that Maria couldn’t have made a free choice while held by her kidnapper apparently didn’t concern Justices Agha and Rizvi. Chaudhry warned the ruling sets a dangerous precedent that official birth documents and evidence of coercion mean nothing when a girl is forced to claim conversion. He’s right. This decision tells every would-be abductor in Pakistan that the system will protect him if he can extract the right words from his victim within 48 hours of kidnapping her.

A Father’s Helpless Fight Against a Broken System

Shahbaz Masih works as a driver—a low-income position that makes the legal battle even harder for his family. He filed the initial complaint immediately after his daughter disappeared. He pursued every legal avenue available when police discharged the case based on Maria’s coerced statement. He cooperated with investigations that proved the marriage documents were fake. None of it mattered. His 13-year-old daughter remains in the custody of the man who kidnapped and raped her, while that man faces no consequences despite documented criminal charges. The family now considers filing review petitions and bringing the case to international forums, but their options narrow as each court failure compounds the injustice.

The Precedent That Endangers Every Christian Girl in Pakistan

This case isn’t isolated. In May of the previous year, Judge Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema—the same magistrate who took Maria’s initial statement—awarded custody of Catholic girl Jessica Iqbal to her abductor Azeem Ullah even though she couldn’t recite the Islamic conversion creed, clear evidence the conversion was forced. Another 16-year-old Christian girl kidnapped in May was forcibly married, raped, and trafficked before finally being rescued in mid-August after her health deteriorated. A few positive outcomes exist—courts occasionally rule in favor of returning kidnapped girls to their families—but these represent exceptions that prove the rule.

Pakistani court awards custody of 13-year-old Christian girl to Muslim man who kidnapped, raped her, forced her into marriagehttps://t.co/Rs4wzkr39O

— Human Events (@HumanEvents) February 7, 2026

The implications extend beyond Maria’s immediate suffering. Christian families across Punjab now have confirmation that official documents protecting their daughters’ legal status as minors mean nothing if a Muslim man can force a conversion statement. The ruling erodes what little trust minority communities had in the judicial system. It discourages families from filing kidnapping complaints since the process exposes them to legal costs and emotional trauma with minimal chance of recovering their daughters. Human rights organizations face the grim reality that documented evidence and legal advocacy can’t overcome systemic bias when courts decide Sharia principles trump civil law protections for religious minorities.

What This Reveals About Religious Freedom and Rule of Law

The Federal Constitutional Court’s decision exposes how Pakistan’s legal system fails its most vulnerable citizens when religious ideology conflicts with human rights. The judges had clear evidence: a government-issued birth certificate, findings of document forgery, criminal charges including kidnapping and rape, and the obvious coercion inherent in a statement made while in captivity. They chose to ignore all of it in favor of accepting that a 13-year-old girl genuinely wanted to marry her 30-year-old kidnapper. That choice reveals the real priority—validating forced conversions to Islam matters more than protecting children from sexual predators. Common sense says you don’t reject a birth certificate in favor of a captive’s testimony. American values say you don’t call rape “marriage” just because the rapist forced his victim to sign papers. This ruling violates both.