A Pakistani court ruling allowing an abducted 13-year-old Christian girl to remain with her alleged abductor has exposed legal gaps enabling child marriage and raised concerns for minority minors, lawmakers, and Church leaders said.
In April 2026, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that Maria Shahbaz, abducted in Lahore in 2025, could stay with the man she was allegedly forced to marry, saying she had reached puberty, according to a report by the Vatican’s Fides News Agency.
Her family had presented evidence of her age and lack of consent and denounced the abduction and forced marriage.
The case has drawn scrutiny over how Pakistan’s child marriage laws are enforced, particularly where legal ambiguities allow marriages involving minors to remain valid despite being criminalized.
“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,” said Anthony Naveed, vice president of the Parliament of Pakistan’s Sindh Province.
Naveed said existing laws were meant to protect minors and uphold constitutional rights.
“The laws against child marriage throughout Pakistan were enacted to protect minors and guarantee the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution,” he said. “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.”
He said the ruling in Maria’s case “has revealed serious deficiencies in the implementation of the laws protecting minors.”
Naveed pointed to a critical flaw in the law: “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.”
He added that the girl’s family has appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court.
Church leaders warned the decision could embolden a pattern of abuse affecting Christian girls.
Father Lazar Aslam of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, director of the Capuchin Order’s Commission for Justice, Peace and Ecology, cited “an alarming increase in abductions, forced conversions, and forced marriages of underage Christian girls in Pakistan.”
He said the ruling risks legitimizing such acts.
“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,” he said.
The priest cited a recent case involving two sisters abducted in Sadiqabad and taken to Karachi.
“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,” he said.
The Commission also reported other recent cases involving Christian girls.
On March 24, a 17-year-old identified as Niya disappeared from her home in Kot Radha Kishan. Her family said she was abducted and forced to convert. Despite a formal complaint naming a suspect, no progress has been reported, with indications of limited cooperation from local authorities.
On April 6, a 20-year-old Christian woman, Laiba Javaid, received a written death threat demanding she renounce her faith and marry a Muslim man.
On April 8, a 14-year-old girl, Waziya Zahid, was abducted in Toba Tek Singh. Her parents said she was taken with the intent of forcing her to convert and marry.
“In many cases, despite private support from some Muslim clerics, there is a certain reluctance to speak out publicly,” Father Aslam said.
The Commission called on the 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.”
