Pakistani Court Reopens Christian Girl’s Alleged Abduction and Forced-Conversion Case

LAHORE, Pakistan — A Pakistani high court has revived a criminal case against a Muslim man accused of abducting, forcibly converting, and marrying a young Christian girl, giving her family renewed hope in a closely watched legal battle.

Lahore High Court Justice Abher Gul Khan admitted a petition on Oct. 1 seeking restoration of the First Information Report involving Maria Shahbaz. Her family maintains that Shehryar Ahmad abducted Maria from her home on July 29, 2025, forced her to embrace Islam, and subjected her to an unlawful marriage.

According to Maria’s official birth records, she was born on Oct. 7, 2012, making her 12 when she disappeared. Within two days, however, she appeared before a magistrate and reportedly claimed to be an adult who had converted and married voluntarily.

Safdar Choudhry, chairman of Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry, which is assisting the family, said a police reinvestigation determined that Maria was 12 years, nine months, and 20 days old when she disappeared. Investigators also reportedly concluded that the marriage certificate was forged and that the purported conversion certificate could not be verified.

Questions surrounding the marriage documents intensified after a union council official reportedly testified that neither the marriage nor its certificate had been registered with the relevant authority.

Despite those findings, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Feb. 3 that Maria should remain in Ahmad’s custody. The court treated her conversion and marriage as voluntary, reasoning that child-marriage laws may criminalize solemnizing such a union without automatically invalidating it.

Maria’s attorneys are now seeking review of that decision. Supreme Court Advocate Muhammad Saqib Jillani argued that minors cannot legally enter binding contracts and that marriage is recognized as a contract under Islamic law. The restored police case, which reportedly includes fraud and forgery allegations, may provide additional grounds for overturning the custody ruling.

“This vindicates our stance that Maria had been subjected to a sham marriage,” Choudhry said.

Maria’s case has attracted international concern. In July, the European Parliament cited her situation while urging Pakistan to establish a national mechanism for families reporting the abduction and forced conversion of minority girls.

For Pakistan’s vulnerable Christian community, the reopened case represents more than one family’s struggle. It is another crucial test of whether courts will protect minority children when disputed conversions and marriages are used to separate them from their families.

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