Pakistan Court Upholds Marriage of Underage Christian Girl After Husband Kidnapped And Forcibly Converted Her To Islam

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) of Pakistan has issued a controversial detailed judgment upholding the marriage of a 13-year-old Christian girl, Maria Shahbaz, to a 30-year-old Muslim man, Shehryar Ahmad.

On March 25, 2026, the two-judge bench comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha ruled that Maria was of “mature age” and effectively placed her in the permanent custody of her alleged abductor.

This ruling comes nearly eight months after Maria was kidnapped on July 29, 2025, an event that sparked a protracted and unsuccessful legal battle by her family to secure her return.

In justifying its decision, the court relied on interpretations of Sharia law, stating that Muslim men are permitted to marry “People of the Book” and that Maria’s conversion to Islam was legally sound. The judges ruled that conversion requires no formal ritual beyond a sincere declaration of faith and the recitation of the Kalima.

Despite the family providing birth certificates and government records indicating Maria was only 12 at the time of her abduction, the court dismissed these documents as “unreliable.” The bench cited inconsistencies in the initial police reports and noted that Maria’s physical appearance in court suggested she was older than her recorded age.

The verdict has ignited a wave of condemnation from civil society groups and Christian rights advocates, who argue the judiciary ignored significant evidence of coercion and illegal marriage. Safdar Chaudhry of the Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry pointed out that the court disregarded a police reinvestigation report which confirmed the marriage was never officially registered with the relevant union council.

Advocates also expressed concern that Maria had been held by her captor for over six months before the ruling, a period they believe was used to coerce her testimony. The Masih family has announced plans to challenge the decision before a larger bench of the court, asserting that the refusal to recognize official birth records sets a dangerous precedent for the protection of minority children in Pakistan.

The situation for religious minorities in Pakistan remains precarious, particularly regarding the issue of forced conversions and underage marriages. Human rights organizations track these cases closely, as they often involve the intersection of religious and age-based vulnerabilities.

According to data from the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), a Pakistan-based advocacy group, approximately 124 cases of forced faith conversions were reported in 2023 alone, with the vast majority involving girls from the Christian and Hindu communities.

Statistical trends indicate that over 60% of these victims are minors under the age of 18, highlighting a systemic challenge in the enforcement of child marriage restraint laws across various provinces.