Pakistan Court Criticized for Granting Christian Teen’s Custody to Alleged Kidnapper
Islamabad — Christian rights advocates in Pakistan have criticized a court decision granting custody of a 13-year-old Christian girl to a man accused of kidnapping her, forcibly converting her to Islam and marrying her.
Rights advocates said the ruling could expose Amber Nadeem to further abuse and coercion and urged authorities to ensure her protection.
Minorities Alliance Pakistan Chairman Advocate Akmal Bhatti, Voice of Justice Chairman Joseph Janssen, Advocate Haroon Michael, Sadaf Adnan and Amber’s mother, Nadia Nadeem, raised concerns about the decision by an additional district and sessions judge in Faisalabad. They questioned discrepancies surrounding Amber’s age and the circumstances of her alleged conversion and marriage, according to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
Janssen said Amber was allegedly kidnapped by Mohsin Liaqat on June 12. After her family filed a police report, authorities located her and placed her in protective custody at a Gender-Based Violence Unit, while Liaqat was arrested.
During initial proceedings before a judicial magistrate on June 27, Amber allegedly said Liaqat’s family had pressured her to claim she was an adult. The defense later presented conversion and marriage documents listing Amber as 18.
Her family and attorneys challenged those documents, noting that Amber’s parents were married in 2012. The magistrate ordered a medical examination to determine her age and placed her in a government shelter.
Janssen said the results of the age examination were not presented before the magistrate. Judge Rana Sohail later granted Amber’s custody to Liaqat and approved his bail, according to the report.
The judge also accepted a new affidavit in which Amber stated that she had voluntarily converted to Islam and married Liaqat and that she had not been kidnapped.
The case comes amid broader international concern over the alleged abduction and forced conversion of girls from Pakistan’s religious minority communities.
In July, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Pakistani authorities to address the abduction and forced conversion of minority girls. Citing United Nations data from 2025, the resolution said Christian girls accounted for nearly 25% of reported cases involving forced religious conversion through marriage.
European lawmakers called on Pakistan to establish a national framework to eliminate child marriage and create a mechanism to handle complaints from families of minority girls who have allegedly been abducted or forcibly converted.
The resolution also highlighted the case of 13-year-old Christian girl Maria Shahbaz, who was allegedly abducted in July 2025 by 30-year-old Shehryar Ahmad and forced to convert to Islam and marry him.
Lawmakers said that despite allegations of falsified official documents and evidence that Maria was underage, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the accused and returned the girl to him. The European Parliament criticized that decision and called for Maria to receive legal assistance and psychological support.
