Christian Pakistani parents trying to prove that their abducted daughter is too young to marry saw her official birth record rejected by the country’s Federal Constitutional Court.
On May 6 the court questioned whether the document is accurate, even though Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority issued it, Christian Daily International-Morning Star News reported.
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Sonia Tariq was 15 when she was abducted in November 2024, explained Saqib Jillani, her family’s attorney. The police report her father filed accused three individuals of “abducting her for sexual exploitation under the guise of Islamic conversion and marriage.”
Her father requested custody, but the Lahore high court sent her to a government shelter, Jillani said. In 2025 the shelter let her leave with a suspect.
Previously, Sonia told a magistrate she was 20 and converted willingly to Islam. Jillani, however, said she appeared to make the statements under pressure.
The constitutional court has ordered an ossification test to determine her age. While awaiting results, she remained at the government shelter, Christian Daily-Morning Star reported.
World Watch
Pakistan is No. 8 on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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