(LifeSiteNews) — A Christian Pakistani girl has been forced to remain with her much-older Muslim abductor after a court ruled her forced marriage was “valid.”
The case of 13-year-old Maria Shabaz has caused outrage in Pakistan, drawing condemnation from Christian rights advocates and other civil society groups. Shabaz was abducted in July 2025 when she was 12 years old. The girl was forcibly converted to Islam and “married” to a 30-year-old Muslim man. Her father filed a petition to rescue his daughter, leading to a legal process that lasted for months.
On March 25, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the girl had to return to her captor since it regarded the marriage as valid.
According to the Christian rights organization OpenDoors, the highly controversial decision caused a national outcry, with Christian advocacy and other human rights groups accusing the court of disregarding key findings and evidence showing that the marriage was unlawful and therefore invalid.
The legal age for marriage in Pakistan’s Punjab region, where the case took place, is 18 for both men and women. However, forced marriages involving sexual abuse, especially of Christian girls, are not uncommon in Pakistan regardless of their age.
A spokesperson for OpenDoors said, “We urge the government of Pakistan to take immediate action to protect all minors, regardless of religion or belief. A judgment of this nature from a constitutional court sets a deeply concerning precedent and risks shaping similar decisions in lower courts. We call for urgent justice and continue to pray for protection, accountability and decisive action. Any delay will leave more girls at risk of forced conversion and sexual abuse.”
“Praise God for the body of Christ in Pakistan,” the spokesperson for OpenDoors added. “Their courage in standing for vulnerable girls is a clear call for the global church to rise, both in voice and in prayer.”
Pakistan has 4.8 million Christians, making up almost two percent of the population, and ranks eighth on the OpenDoors World Watch List of countries where Christians are most persecuted.