Pakistan court annuls forced marriage of Christian child bride

A court in Pakistan has annulled the marriage of a Christian teenager forced to accept a Muslim man as her husband from the age of just 11 years old.

The ordeal of Shahida Bibi, 18, began when her mother eloped with a Muslim man who “gave” her to his brother.

She was forced into marriage and conversion to Islam and bore two children before she contested the arrangement at a civil court in Bahawalpur. 

In a landmark decision, the court issued a decree in favour of Bibi, order her marriage to be dissolved and that new identification documents be issued declaring her religion to be Christianity instead of Islam.

Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy for Asia for ADF International, which supported Bibi, said: “Nobody should suffer the horrors of abduction and forced marriage, further being forced to give up their faith.”

She added: “We are grateful that Shahida Bibi has received justice over her captor. Shahida is now free and able to begin the process of healing from this ordeal. These cases are a tremendous violation of these young women’s basic human rights, including their religious freedom.”  

She continued: “While these forced conversion and marriage abuses happen across the globe, they are especially prevalent in Pakistan. 

“In coordination with our allied lawyers in the country, we are taking every step possible to prevent these situations from occurring. 

“The government has an opportunity to make a difference, and they should start by implementing a uniform age for marriage to prevent these forced kidnappings and marriages from happening in the first place.”

She added: “Every person under international law has the right to freely choose and live out their faith without fear of violence. Every state, including Pakistan, must ensure that their laws and policies are in line with their commitments to protect religious freedom under international law, and that the laws they do have in place to protect girls from these violations are enforced.”

Bibi is now free to return home to her father, though her abductor is unlikely to face prosecution because he contracted Islamic Nikah, or a marriage union, when she turned 18 to protect himself from punishment under an anti-child marriage law.

Globally,  100 million girls are at risk  of being forced into child marriage over the next decade, according to UNICEF. 

The threat for girls from religious minorities, particularly in certain parts of Asia and Africa, of also being coerced into changing their religion in connection with a forced marriage is particularly acute. 

In Pakistan, for example, more than 1,000 girls from religious minorities are forced into conversion and marriage every year.   

ADF International and allied lawyers are engaged in supporting women and girls suffering from forced marriage in light of the recurring problem of women and girls, often Christian, who are forced to convert to Islam for their marriage to be validated by a Sharia court.  

Under Sharia law, which permits sexual relations from puberty,  the marriage age is lower than the official marriage age, which varies between 16 and 18 years in different Pakistani states. When girls are forced to convert, their parents often are unable to stop the violation from happening. 

These women and girls often are fearful for their lives and those of their families, preventing them from denouncing their captors. 

The victory in Shahida Bibi’s case comes as human rights leaders from across the globe are turning their attention to Pakistan’s egregious human rights violations.  

In January 2025, officials from the European Union issued a warning to Pakistan regarding their human rights violations, including blasphemy laws, forced conversions, and other targeted persecution against religious minorities. If not addressed, Pakistan’s trade relations with the EU could be jeopardised. 

In 2024, Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), James Lankford (R-OK), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced a bipartisan resolution that called for the U.S. to “leverage all diplomatic and sanctions tools available to the United States Government to hold religious freedom violators accountable for their actions”.

The resolution specifically points to religious freedom violations, including forced marriages and conversions, in Pakistan, among other countries. The resolution was widely supported by religious freedom advocates and organisations from across the globe.  

ADF International has highlighted the testimonies of survivors of forced marriages and conversions in a mini-documentary.  

(Photo of Shahida Bibi courtesy of ADF)

The post Pakistan court annuls forced marriage of Christian child bride first appeared on Catholic Herald.

The post Pakistan court annuls forced marriage of Christian child bride appeared first on Catholic Herald.