Fourteen-Year-Old Pakistani Christian Girl Kidnapped & Forced to Marry her Abductor

On April 28th 2020, a man by the name of Mohamed Nakash and two accomplices abducted 14-year-old Catholic girl Maria Shahbaz in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad.  Maria's mother watched helplessly as her abductors pulled her into their car near her home while firing their guns into the air.  Shortly after the incident, Maria's mother suffered a heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital.  Though Maria was found, the Pakistani court system is rife with prejudice.  The Faisalabad Magistrates Court ruled in favor of Maria's abductor, Mr. Nakash, and stated that Maria was 19-years-old and that Mr. Nakash produced a marriage certificate showing Maria had willingly converted and married him in October of last year, during which time Maria would have been 18 and of legal marriage age.  
This is nothing but a lie.  Khalil Tahir Sandhu, the Shahbaz family attorney, brought baptism certificates, birth records, and other documentation to the court which clearly shows that that Maria is only 14-years-old, that she was not of legal age, and she did not willingly convert.  Attorney Sandhu further stated that Mr. Nakash is already married with two children.  Not to mention the fact that her mother saw Mr. Nakash and two other men grab Maria of the streets in broad daylight.  Attorney Sandhu vowed to take this case to higher courts, but he must be very careful.  Defending the rights of religious minorities is very dangerous in Pakistan.  Sandu's former roommate and minority rights campaigner Shabaz Bhatti was himself assassinated for this very reason, as was former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.  
Maria's Mother & Siblings

The sad truth is that Maria's case is not an isolated one.  The Movement for Solidarity and Peace reports that there are over 1,000 documented cases of Christian and Hindu women in Pakistan being abducted and forcibly married off every year, and we cannot even begin to imagine how many undocumented cases there are.  Once abducted, there is little hope of these minority faith women ever being freed.  Their only hope are NGO organizations who are willing to fight for their cause, and the prayer that they take their case to a judge who will not be blinded by prejudice and instead do what is right.  

 Sources:

Mbakwe, Tola.  "14-Year-old Christian Girl Forced to Marry Her Kidnapper and Renounce Her Faith."  Premier Christian News.  May 23, 2020.  Accessed from  https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/14-year-old-christian-girl-forced-to-marry-her-kidnapper-and-renounce-her-faith.

"Pakistan Christian Girl, 14, Abducted During Lockdown."  Aid to the Church in Need.  May 20, 2020.  Accessed from
https://acninternational.org/pakistan-christian-girl-14- abducted-during-lockdown/?utm_content=bufferadf78&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR0KELnPAAwS_XK3G4V3g_0tE0IlNaTwJZ1xxlV-gPWQ61oSt6d96RqXA-k.

Pontifex, John.  "Pakistan: Christian Girl, 14, Abducted and Forced to Marry."  Independent Catholic News.  May 19, 2020.  Accessed from https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/39611.


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