Police in Pakistan allegedly failed to act after a 14-year-old Christian girl was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man despite official documents showing she is a minor, her father and legal counsel said.
Basharat Masih, a daily wage laborer from Chak 47/12-L village in Chichawatni, Sahiwal District of Punjab Province and a member of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, said his daughter, Sataish Maryam, disappeared from their home during the night of Jan. 10-11.
“When we woke up in the morning, Maryam was not at home,” Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “We searched for her and when we couldn’t find her, I registered a First Information Report [FIR] with the local police.”
Masih said neighbors later reported seeing 26-year-old Ali Haider and two other men taking his daughter away in a white car. The family shared the information with police. On Jan. 16, however, they were informed that Maryam had converted to Islam and married Haider of her own free will in Karachi, Sindh Province.
Maryam, the youngest of Masih’s five children, had been studying in seventh grade before leaving school due to her mother’s illness, he said. According to her father, she rarely left the house alone.
“We don’t know how Haider was able to lure my minor daughter out,” Masih said. “He opened a motorcycle repair shop in our village in December. It is still unclear to us how he managed to influence a child.”
Masih alleged that police made no serious effort to recover his daughter and failed to add relevant legal provisions to the FIR when documents relating to her conversion and marriage surfaced. He said officers failed to include sections concerning child marriage, statutory rape and forged documentation to the charges.
On Jan. 22 several relatives and associates of Haider, including Atiq Shafi, Irfan Jan Muhammad, Ali Raza, Abdul Ghaffar, Mohsin Ismail and Muzamil Anwar, entered his home armed and threatened harm if the family did not withdraw the complaint, Masih said. He filed a separate FIR over the alleged intimidation, but no arrests were made.
Masih further alleged that on Jan. 26 police assisted in pressuring his daughter to record a statement before a local magistrate supporting the marriage. The family presented her birth certificate to the court, asserting she was 14 and therefore legally incapable of consenting to marriage.
“Our plea to investigate the fabricated conversion and marriage documents was not admitted,” he said. “The child was handed over to the accused in front of us. We have not seen her since.”
Masih said his wife’s health has deteriorated amid the ordeal and vowed to continue pursuing legal remedies despite limited financial means.
Christian attorney Hanif Hameed, who recently took up the case, said he has sought a fresh investigation and reinstitution of the FIR with additional charges.
“The previous investigating officer neither verified the marriage certificate submitted by the accused nor accepted the child’s birth certificate confirming she is a minor,” Hameed said. “We have filed applications with senior police authorities seeking action under the newly promulgated Punjab Child Marriage Ordinance 2026.”
Hameed said he also plans to file a writ petition in the Lahore High Court, arguing that religious conversions and marriages involving minors are used to shield sexual exploitation.
New Child Marriage Law
The case comes amid recent changes to child marriage legislation in Punjab. On Feb. 11, Punjab Gov. Saleem Haider Khan promulgated the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026 under Article 128(1) of Pakistan’s Constitution, as the provincial assembly was not in session.
The ordinance raises the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 for both males and females, eliminating the previous gender-based distinction under the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, which set the minimum age at 18 for men and 16 for women.
Under the new law, anyone who contracts, facilitates or promotes a child marriage faces up to seven years’ imprisonment and fines of up to 1 million Pakistani rupees ($3,500). Offenses are classified as cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable, allowing police to register cases without prior court approval and preventing private settlements between parties.
Marriage registrars, known as Nikah Khawans, are prohibited from registering marriages involving people under 18. Violations carry penalties of up to one year in prison and fines of 100,000 rupees ($357).
The ordinance also criminalizes cohabitation resulting from a child marriage as child abuse, punishable by five to seven years in prison and a minimum fine of 1 million rupees, regardless of whether the minor purportedly consented. Guardians who promote, permit or fail to prevent a child marriage may face two to three years’ imprisonment and fines of up to 500,000 rupees ($1,787).
All cases under the ordinance are to be tried in Courts of Session and concluded within 90 days.
Child rights advocates have long campaigned to raise the minimum marriage age for girls to 18, arguing that the previous law exposed minors to forced marriages and abuse. Efforts to amend the 1929 legislation faced resistance from some religious leaders and political parties. The Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional advisory body, has opposed setting a statutory minimum marriage age not explicitly defined in Islamic jurisprudence.
The ordinance will require approval from the Punjab Assembly once it reconvenes.
Pakistan, where more than 96 percent of the population is Muslim, ranks eighth on the 2026 World Watch List compiled by the advocacy group Open Doors, which monitors persecution of Christians worldwide.
