Pakistan: Protests held against court’s verdict upholding Christian girl’s forced conversion

Islamabad: Christians, rights advocates and civil society members in Pakistan held protests against a federal court judgement upholding the forced conversion of a Christian girl by a Muslim man, local media reported.

A protest was held after a Federal Constitutional Court in its verdict allowed a 30-year-old Muslim man to keep the custody of a 13-year-old Maria Shahbaz. On March 29, a large number of Christians gathered outside the Karachi Press Club carrying placards and shouting slogans demanding protection for underage girls and stronger legislation against forced faith conversions and child marriages, Christian Daily International reported.

During the protests, speakers warned of rising cases of abductions, forced conversions and marriages involving Christian girls and urged the Federal Constitutional Court to reconsider the judgement. They urged Pakistan Prime Minister and President to take immediate notice.

While addressing protesters, church leader and rights activist Ghazala Shafique said, “We condemn the Federal Constitutional Court for trampling over the existing child marriage laws of the country by validating the Islamic conversion and marriage of an underage Christian minor girl… How can minors, who cannot legally obtain identity documents, be deemed capable of making decisions about religion or marriage?”

Others speakers called for reviewing all controversial laws and decisions impacting minority communities, stressing that failure to address these issues increases insecurity among minorities. Similarly, protests were also organised by other groups, including the National Christian Party and Gawahi Mission Trust. Girls holding placards demanded justice in the Maria Shahbaz case and implementation of laws prohibiting marriages under 18 years of age. The protesters warned that vulnerable groups, especially young girls, remained at serious risk if urgent legal reforms and judicial review were not conducted.

Representatives of civil society, political and human rights groups also held a press conference in Lahore to condemn the verdict in Maria Shahbaz case, Christian Daily International reported. Rwadari Tehreek or Movement for Equality chairman Samson Salamat termed the ruling “misleading” and a setback for efforts to protect minors from marriages that can cause lasting physical, emotional, and educational harm.

Salamat stressed that Federal Constitutional Court’s decision effectively validates the forced marriage of the 13-year-old Christian girl to a Muslim man, citing sharia (Islamic law), despite the Child Marriage Restraint Act and its provincial variations, including the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026, Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013, Balochistan Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025, and Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025, which set the minimum age of marriage for girls at 18, Christian Daily International reported.

During the press conference, the speakers highlighted the impact of court’s verdict on minority girls in Pakistan, who are disproportionately affected by forced conversions and child marriages. Salamat emphasised that the court’s decision could encourage perpetrators to exploit vulnerable girls, forcibly converting them and getting married to them, erasing their identities and denying them access to education and protection.

IANS