International Desk: Pakistan has once again come under scrutiny over allegations of forced conversions and marriages involving underage girls from religious minority communities after a 14-year-old Christian girl in Lahore was allegedly abducted, converted to Islam and married to a 41-year-old Muslim man.
The victim, identified as Nisha Bibi, reportedly suffers from epilepsy and mental health issues. According to her family, she disappeared on 12 May after leaving work and never returned home. The case has reignited concerns over what rights activists describe as a persistent pattern of abuse targeting vulnerable Christian and Hindu girls in Pakistan.
Nisha’s father, Abbas Masih, said his daughter worked as a domestic helper for a Muslim family in Lahore’s Gulbahar Colony. When she failed to return home, the family visited her workplace, only to be told that she had already left. A police complaint was subsequently lodged, while CCTV footage reportedly showed the teenager leaving with a middle-aged man.
The controversy deepened after a local woman allegedly identified the man as her 41-year-old husband, Arshad Habib. According to the family, the accused had already been married three times and fathered several children. The woman further claimed that her husband disappeared on the same day along with their two children.
The victim’s family alleges that police later presented documents claiming that Nisha had willingly converted to Islam and married the accused. The documents reportedly stated that she was 18 years old. However, her relatives and legal representatives have dismissed the papers as fabricated and designed to legitimise the alleged abduction.
Family lawyer Zunara Patrick accused the suspect of using religious conversion as a shield against prosecution. She stated that the accused was eventually traced to Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab province, where he was allegedly living with Nisha and his children.
The case has fuelled criticism of Pakistan’s handling of minority rights and child protection laws. Human rights groups have repeatedly warned that underage Christian and Hindu girls are frequently subjected to abduction, forced conversion and coerced marriages, with legal loopholes and weak enforcement often allowing perpetrators to escape accountability.
The report also highlighted another case involving 15-year-old Christian girl Sidra Bibi from Jaranwala, whose family alleged that armed men stormed their home and abducted her. As in several similar cases, documents later surfaced claiming that the girl had voluntarily converted and married.
Rights advocates argue that such incidents are not isolated but reflect a broader and deeply troubling pattern facing Pakistan’s minority communities. They have called for stronger legal safeguards, independent investigations and strict action against those accused of exploiting religion to justify the alleged abduction and marriage of underage girls.
