A Muslim in Pakistan abducted and forcibly converted and married a 12-year-old Christian girl as police delayed efforts to recover her, family members said.
Parveen Shaukat, a Catholic widow and mother to eight children, said that Muhammad Asad abducted her youngest daughter, Fairy Shaukat, from the Habibabad Mandi area in Pattoki Tehsil, Kasur District of Punjab Province, on Aug. 9.
“Fairy had gone to a nearby shop to buy groceries in the afternoon, but she did not return home,” Shaukat told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “My sons started searching for her but could not find her. We then filed a complaint with the police, but their attitude was not welcoming. Instead of helping us, they delayed the registration of a First Information Report [FIR].”
She said that a neighbor later informed the family that he had seen Asad abduct Fairy.
“We informed the police about the accused, but they still did not take any action, giving sufficient time to Asad to convert the minor child and contract an Islamic marriage with her,” Shaukat said.
The impoverished mother said that police finally registered an FIR on Aug. 10 but were slow to make efforts to recover the child.
“On Aug. 13, my sons received the Nikahnama [Islamic marriage certificate] of Fairy through WhatsApp from an unknown number,” she said. “We were shocked to see the document and urged the police to take action against this underage marriage. When the police finally raided the house of the accused, he was not there. It’s nearly 20 days now that I haven’t seen my child, and we have no information about her safety.”
Shaukat said she did not believe her minor daughter could go willingly with the suspect.
“Fairy is just 12 years old. She had no access to a cell phone and rarely went out of the home by herself,” Shaukat said. “She was abducted by Asad, who we have heard is a loafer. He targeted my child for sexual exploitation, and my heart sinks every time I think of how she is being treated in captivity.”
After failing to find a trace of their child, the family contacted Christian Advocate Sumera Shafique for legal aid.
“I’m filing a petition in the Lahore High Court for the child’s recovery,” Shafique told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “It’s very unfortunate that police delay action in cases involving underage minority girls, which allows the perpetrators to scar these children for life.”
Shafique said she also intends to charge the suspect with various crimes, including child marriage and rape, after he and the girl appear in court.
Officers have registered a case against Asad with kidnapping a person from lawful guardianship, punishable by up to seven years in prison under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
“But this charge is not enough,” Shafique said. “The accused not only kidnapped the child, he converted her and contracted an Islamic marriage to save himself from prosecution,” a common practice by kidnappers to sexually exploit underage minority girls.
She called for strict enforcement of anti-child marriage laws as well criminalizing forced conversions of underage girls.
“The new anti-child marriage bill submitted in the Punjab Provincial Assembly is a good initiative, but there’s a need to ensure that it is implemented in letter and spirit,” she said. “This is a major weakness in our law enforcement and judicial system, that though relevant laws already exist, they are not implemented.”
New Bill
In a bid to criminalize underage marriages in Punjab Province, the provincial government on April 25 submitted the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2024, in the provincial Assembly, which would raise the legal age for marriage for both males and females to 18 years. Previously the legal age for marriage for girls in the province was 16.
Under the proposed bill, anyone who marries a girl or boy under 18 or arranges such a marriage – including parents or guardians – would face two to three years in prison and a fine of between 100,000 Pakistani rupees ($360 USD) and 200,000 rupees ($720 USD).
At the time of marriage registration, the marriage solemnizer, secretary of the union council and marriage registrar would check the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) of the girl or boy, passport, educational certificate or other documents proving both are at least 18 years old. Attested copies of these documents would be required to be attached with the application of marriage certificate.
Rights activists say that, though raising the legal marriage age to 18 years for both boys and girls will help in preventing child marriages, certain amendments are required to ensure that minority girls also get due coverage of the law. Such amendments would override all “special” laws related to determining a girl’s age of maturity, they say, including sharia (Islamic law), which allows girls attaining puberty to be considered adults.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
