13-year-old Christian girl asks Pakistani court to free her from alleged abductor and forced marriage
Caroline MolloyA 13-year-old Christian girl is seeking a new hearing in Pakistan after a previous court ruling returned her to the custody of the 30-year-old man accused of abducting her, forcing her to convert to Islam, and marrying her against her will.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International is supporting Maria Shahbaz’s case and urging the Pakistani judiciary to reverse the earlier decision. According to the Christian legal organization, Shahbaz remains with Shehryar Ahmad while her attorneys wait for a hearing date on a petition challenging the ruling.
ADF International reported Shahbaz was raised in a Christian family and abducted in 2025. She was allegedly forced to renounce Christianity and enter an Islamic marriage with Ahmad, exposing her to continuing abuse and exploitation.
The case reached Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court in February. Rather than return Shahbaz to her parents, the court placed her back in Ahmad’s custody without independently verifying her age, according to ADF International.
A previous investigation had already determined that Shahbaz was a minor and that documents purporting to establish the marriage were forged, according to the organization. Pakistani law does not permit a child to consent legally to marriage or religious conversion.
“Maria is only 13 years old,” ADF International Asia Advocacy Director Tehmina Arora said in a July 9 statement, arguing that the court must now correct the injustice.
Local attorney Lazar Allah Rakha, who is following the case, said the court returned a child to the man accused of taking her without resolving the questions surrounding her age and documents.
“That cannot be allowed to stand,” Rakha said.
If decided in Shahbaz’s favor, the case would establish an important precedent for Pakistani courts confronting the recurring abduction, conversion, and forced marriage of Christian and Hindu girls.
