LAHORE, Pakistan — A recent Pakistani court decision may make Christian girls more vulnerable to abduction, forced conversion to Islam and forced marriage, according to a rights activist.
In August, Lahore High Court ordered 14-year-old Christian girl Maira Shahbaz to return to Nakash Tariq, the man who kidnapped and raped her. He had threatened to kill her and her family unless she testified that she willingly married him and converted to Islam.
The court dismissed documents showing Shahbaz is a minor and evidence that the marriage certificate is fake.
Shahbaz and her family are in hiding.
In February, the High Court in Sindh Province validated the forced marriage and conversion of 14-year-old Christian girl Huma Younus.
Pakistan is 96% Muslim and ranks No. 5 on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of places where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Pakistan also is on the U.S. blacklist of religious freedom violators.
A Pakistani Senate committee on Sept. 24 rejected a bill calling for the protection of religious minorities. The bill would have made forced conversions, especially for marriage, punishable with prison and fines. In rejecting the bill, a member of the committee claimed that a bill for the protection of the rights of Muslims should be presented instead, according to Persecution.org.
A study by the Movement for Solidarity and Peace Pakistan estimates 1,000 Christian and Hindu women are abducted, forcefully married and forcefully converted to Islam every year.
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