Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Justice and Peace Commission OFM Cap
Lahore (Fides News Agency) – “It is urgent to implement child protection laws and an immediate review of the legislative gaps highlighted by the recent case of the Christian girl Maria Shahbaz is necessary. Existing laws on child marriage contain ambiguities that are exploited, allowing some men to gain custody of underage girls under the guise of alleged marital rights,” Catholic politician Anthony Naveed, Vice President of the Parliament of Pakistan’s Sindh Province, told Fides.
In April 2026, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court issued a controversial ruling in the case of 13-year-old Christian Maria Shahbaz, who was abducted in Lahore in 2025. Although her family presented evidence of her age and lack of consent, and denounced the abduction and forced marriage, the court allowed Maria to remain with her abductor, arguing that she had reached puberty. In Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, legal decisions are often based on differences between civil law and Islamic law, which does not stipulate a fixed minimum age for marriage and permits it upon reaching puberty. However, Naveed notes, “The laws against child marriage throughout Pakistan were enacted to protect minors and guarantee the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution,” Naveed states. “These laws have already been declared compatible with Islamic precepts by the Federal Constitutional Court in its rulings, underscoring the need for their strict application.” The Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling in Maria's case, Naveed continues, “has revealed serious deficiencies in the implementation of the laws protecting minors.” Naveed observes, “Although the laws against child marriage criminalize the act and provide penalties for those who marry a minor, as well as for those who perform or witness a child marriage, they do not affect the legal validity of marriages involving minors. Therefore, this marriage is not, in fact, invalid.” Naveed reports that “the family, along with their legal team, has now appealed this decision to the Supreme Court.” In this context, Father Lazar Aslam (OFM Cap), director of the Capuchin Order’s Commission for Justice, Peace and Ecology, notes “an alarming increase in abductions, forced conversions, and forced marriages of underage Christian girls in Pakistan” and remarks that the recent court ruling could further encourage and legitimize the phenomenon. “We categorically reject the recent case law that exploits religious law to legitimize the kidnapping of minors.
These developments represent a systemic injustice that places minorities in particular in a state of constant and pervasive fear.” The friar told Fides of a “recently heartbreaking tragedy”: Two Christian sisters—eight-year-old Zarish and fourteen-year-old Muqaddas—were abducted in Sadiqabad and taken to Karachi, robbed of their home and their innocence. Police confirmed the violence after the victims were found in the Shirin Jinnah Colony neighborhood. “Muqaddas, the older sister, who was transferred to intensive care after unimaginable suffering, died from the effects of the abuse. A fourteen-year-old girl, a life shattered. May the Lord hold her in his arms, in a place where no one can harm her anymore, where every tear dries and every wound heals,” said the priest. The Justice, Peace and Ecology Commission points to a list of recent cases affecting the Christian community. On March 24, seventeen-year-old Christian Niya disappeared from her home in Kot Radha Kishan. Her family confirmed that she had been abducted and forced to convert. Despite a formal complaint (First Information Report)
naming the main suspect, there has been no progress in the case. There are indications of a lack of cooperation from local law enforcement, while those responsible continue to threaten the family. On April 6, 20-year-old Christian Laiba Javaid received a written death threat demanding that she renounce her Christian faith and marry a Muslim man. Otherwise, the threat stated, she would be executed. On April 8, 14-year-old Christian Waziya Zahid was abducted in Toba Tek Singh. Her parents say she was kidnapped with the intention of forcibly converting her to Islam and marrying a Muslim man. “In many cases, despite private support from some Muslim clerics, there is a certain reluctance to speak out publicly,” said Father Aslam. “The Commission calls on the families who speak out against this issue and defend the families whose rights are trampled upon with impunity and whose daughters are abducted.” In solidarity with the victims’ families, the Commission calls on the Pakistani government to “ensure the immediate and safe return of the abducted girls to their families of origin” and to “prosecute to the fullest extent those who use forced conversion as a cover for the crime of abduction.” (PA) (Fides News Agency, 21/4/2026)
