Garrison Mosque of Sialkot, Pakistan. (Screenshot from YouTube)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Five Muslims on Jan. 9 abducted a 14-year-old Christian girl from outside her home in Pakistan, her father said.

Sharif Masih, of the Korpur area of Sialkot, Punjab Province, said he fears the kidnappers may try to forcibly convert his daughter, Saneha Sharif, to Islam and force her to marry one of the Muslim suspects.

“Saneha was lured out of the house by a Muslim girl whose family had recently moved to our neighborhood,” Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “A neighbor, Rehan Razaque, saw her being bundled into a van by the accused, which included two women, one of whom was the mother of the girl who had brought Saneha out of her home.”

A sweeper at a wedding marquee who is a member of the Brethren Church, Masih said the suspects included Muhammad Dildar, who had been making unwelcome advances toward his daughter that she always discouraged. He said he informed police as soon as learned of her abduction.

“The police registered a case but arrested only two accused, including Samina Usman and Shabbir Ahmed,” Masih said. “Samina has been sent into judicial custody, while Ahmed is still in police custody, but both the accused have not yet provided any lead that could help recover Saneha.”

The Christian said that police have been lax since making the two arrests and have done nothing to recover his daughter.

“Despite repeated pleas to the police, they are not making any effort to recover Saneha or arrest the other accused,” Masih said. “We even gave them some cell phone numbers to trace the whereabouts of Dildar, but nothing has been done to find him.”

Masih said his poverty and Christian faith were the reasons the police were not responding to his requests.

“The investigating officer of the case, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ihsan Ullah, is making no effort to track the accused,” he said. “It’s been nearly two weeks Saneha has been missing, and we fear that the accused will force her to convert to Islam and marry Dildar to give a legal cover to their crime.”

His wife has fallen ill since their daughter’s disappearance, requiring her to be taken to the hospital twice for treatment, he said.

Appealing Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and the inspector general of police for intervention, Masih said such brazen criminal acts should be dealt with sternly to protect the vulnerable minority communities.

“We are very weak and can only plead for the higher authorities to save our daughter from these criminals,” he said.

The incident drew widespread condemnation from rights advocates. They demanded the government pass a bill pending in the Punjab Assembly since April that would increase the legal age for marriage for both boys and girls to 18 years.

“The provincial government should pass the new anti-child marriage bill at the earliest to protect minor girls, especially those from the Christian and Hindu minority communities, from forced conversions in guise of marriages,” said Christian attorney Lazar Allah Rakha.

Until the government passes and strictly implements the new law, minority girls and women will continue to be victimized by predators for sexual exploitation, Rakha said.

Pending approval of the bill, the minimum age for girls to marry is still 16. Nationally, the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024 set the marriageable age at 18 only for Christians; if they convert to Islam, girls considered Muslims come under sharia (Islamic law), which allows them to marry younger.

Typically, kidnapped girls in Pakistan, some as young as 10, are abducted, forced to convert to Islam and raped under cover of Islamic “marriages” and are then pressured to record false statements in favor of the kidnappers, rights advocates say. Judges routinely ignore documentary evidence related to the children’s ages, handing them back to kidnappers as their “legal wives.”

The U.N.’s Human Rights Committee on Nov. 7 expressed concern about persistent reports of abduction and forced marriages of girls from minority religions in Pakistan, regardless of their age and prevailing law. Forced to convert to Islam under threat of violence, they suffer rape, trafficking and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence.

The U.N. body expressed concern about reports of the widespread impunity surrounding these cases.

“Victims are usually not returned to their families during investigations but forced to stay with their abductors, including members of organized criminal groups, or placed in unnecessary and inappropriate alternative care facilities, with no or limited regard for child protection standards, exposing victims to further risk of exploitation, abuse and harmful practices,” the committee stated in its concluding observations on Pakistan’s second periodic review of human rights situation.

It urged Pakistan to intensify efforts to eradicate forced conversions and marriages, including strengthening its legal framework and enforcement mechanisms.

“The state party should also ensure that all allegations of forced conversions and forced marriages of girls are promptly, impartially and effectively investigated, that those responsible are brought to justice, and that all victims have access to effective remedies and support services such as adequate shelters, legal aid, psychological counselling and rehabilitation programs,” it stated.

Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.

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