Skip to main content

Teen Girl Trapped in Forced Marriage Bursts Into Tears After Judge's Ruling

Share This article

A Pakistani, Christian teen-aged girl burst into tears after hearing a judge rule upholding her forced marriage and conversion to Islam.

Maira Shahbaz and her family say she was kidnapped by gunpoint in April by an older Muslim man, Mohamad Nakash, and forced to marry him. Later in July, a local imam issued an edict calling the marriage invalid and Maira was eventually allowed to live in a women's shelter until a court case over her abduction and marriage was settled. 

According to a Breitbart report, when Maira's family reported her kidnapping, Nakash gave authorities a "marriage certificate" that was six months earlier than her abduction and stated her age as 19. Her family presented a birth certificate proving she is only 14 - yet the judge still ruled in favor of Nakash.

If his ruling isn't overturned the girl will be legally made to leave the shelter and return to an enslaved marriage.

Tragically, Maira's case isn't uncommon in Pakistan.

STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FREE CBN NEWS APP 
Click Here Get the App with Special Alerts on Breaking News and Top Stories

Another Pakistani Christian teenager who was abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and marry one of her kidnappers last year is now pregnant and remains confined to one room, according to the family's lawyer. 

Tabassum Yousaf, an attorney representing the parents of 15-year-old Huma Younus told the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that Huma spoke to her parents recently by telephone, informing them she has become pregnant after repeated sexual assaults. 

Last February, a Pakistani high court even handed down a ruling based on Islamic "sharia" law that said men in Pakistan can marry underage girls as long as they have had their first menstrual cycle. The ruling came during the latest court hearing into Huma's abduction case. 

At that time, International Christian Concern (ICC), a Christian persecution watchdog group, reported the ruling was in direct opposition to the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act which forbids marriage below the age of 18. 

Critics say that Sindh Act was only passed so the outside world would believe Pakistan was moving in the right direction to protect children, but within the country, young Christian and Hindu girls are still being forced into "marriage" by Muslim men.

We encourage readers who wish to comment on our material to do so through our FacebookTwitterYouTube, and Instagram accounts. God bless you and keep you in His truth.

Share This article

About The Author

Donna
Russell