Abducted, married and forced to convert to Islam - this human rights atrocity must be stopped.
By Tehmina Arora, ADF International13 October 2022.Despite child marriage being illegal in Pakistan, more than 1,000 girls are kidnapped,
married to much older men and forced to become Muslims every year. Following
International Day of the Girl Child, Tehmina Arora says Christians should be
leading the way in crying out for the protection of religious minority girls
Every girl wants to enjoy the adventure of adolescence free from fear or risk of harm. And
yet so many are deprived of this fundamental right. Each year in Pakistan alone, 1,000 young
girls - typically between 12 and 15 years of age - are abducted from religious minority
communities and forcibly married.
Hidden in plain sight, this human rights atrocity confronts thousands more in countries
across South Asia. Young girls across the region are abducted from their homes and
villages to be forcibly wed and thereby “converted” from their faith. Although an issue
that affects all communities, Christians or other minority religions are particularly vulnerable,
targeted to be forcibly converted to Islam.
PAKISTAN HAS RATIFIED INTERNATIONAL LEGAL CONVENTIONS EXPRESSLY
PROHIBITING CHILD MARRIAGE. YET IT STILL CONTINUES
Their backgrounds are immensely varied, but their storylines share a common thread. A girl
is abducted, and then married to her abductor or to a third party as part of a conversion process.
The victim’s family files a report at the local police station and, all too often, is met with hostility
from the authorities or refusal to register the case at all.
Even if the case is registered, this far from guarantees justice. Police will generally still refuse
to rescue the girl. Implicit here is the thinking that she is better off a Muslim. This tragic chain
of events plays out time and again, despite clear legal provisions prohibiting child marriage.
Courts too are reluctant to prosecute, in large part due to fears of the mob violence that
conversion cases engender.
SADAF’S STORY
In 2019, the horror of forced marriage and conversion came to pass for Sadaf, a young Christian
Pakistani girl. Kidnapped on her way home from school, Sadaf endured two years of captivity
in a forced marriage. Her harrowing abduction shows how police and courts abetted the
abductor’s crimes under the guise of religious conversion and marriage.
Sadaf’s parents worked relentlessly to secure her freedom, weeping when she recorded a
statement stating that she wished to remain with her abuser. The fear in her eyes made it c
lear that she was afraid for her life. She was forced to deny a medical examination to
determine her age, and subsequently handed back to her “husband,” with all abduction
charges quashed.
Throughout the onerous legal proceedings surrounding her case, the court failed to recognise
Sadaf’s real age, accepting her statement, made under clear duress, that she was 18 years old.
The court even ignored her official birth certificate, as well as the blatant forgery on her
certificate of conversion to Islam. Despite all evidence pointing to the contrary, the system
adhered to the narrative that Sadaf was an 18-year-old “adult” who became a Muslim of
her own will.
One can hardly imagine the terror that this child and her parents faced. After she eventually
escaped and returned home, Sadaf revealed that she was subjected to mental and physical
torture: “He would curse and beat me for no reason. I was given food only once a day and
was not allowed to go out of the house. He also forcibly aborted my baby when I got pregnant
as a result of rape”.
FORCED TO FLEE
But the family’s plight did not end when their child returned. In addition to the ongoing
legal battle to recognise the annulment of the “marriage”, they have been forced to flee their
house. After they came home to find their belongings cast out into the road, the police still
refused to take any action against influential Muslims harassing them.
The forced marriage of children, coupled with forced conversion, places girls at high risk of
violence and abuse, and violates their fundamental human rights to education, health, and
freedom of religion. In addition to clear national law, Pakistan has signed and ratified
international legal conventions expressly prohibiting child marriage. Yet it still continues.
CHRISTIANS OR OTHER MINORITY RELIGIONS ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE,
TARGETED FOR CONVERSION TO ISLAM
This week, we mark the International Day of the Girl Child. It is imperative that the Christian
community calls attention to the horrors of forced marriage and conversion. We must cry out
without reserve that girls need the protection of the law and the care of their families.
Sadaf should not have had her childhood forever marred by these crimes. Her friends – and
girls everywhere - should be able to walk to school without fearing the same fate might befall
them, simply because of their Christian faith. If this week is meant to celebrate girls, it’s
imperative that governments take all possible steps to put an end to this tragedy. All girls
deserve an equal shot at a future, no matter their beliefs. PC.
Tehmina Arora is the Director of Advocacy, Asia, for ADF International.
