Christian Girl’s Family Says She Was Abducted, Forced to Convert and Married to Older Man in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — The family of a 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan says she was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married to a 41-year-old Muslim man who allegedly exploited her health condition.

Nisha Bibi, who has epilepsy and mental health challenges, disappeared on May 12 after leaving her job as a domestic helper at a Muslim household in Lahore’s Gulbahar Colony, according to a report by Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Her father, Abbas Masih, a daily wage laborer and member of a local Brethren church, said the family went to her employer’s home after she failed to return.

“When Nisha did not return home from work, we went to her employer’s house, where we were told that she had already left,” Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Masih said he contacted police after the family could not find her. Police later registered a First Information Report for abduction after CCTV footage from the employer’s residence showed Nisha leaving with an unidentified middle-aged man.

The family shared a screenshot from the CCTV footage with residents in the area where Nisha worked. Masih said a woman employed at a house across from Nisha’s workplace recognized the man as her 41-year-old husband, Arshad Habib.

“A woman employed in a house opposite my daughter’s workplace immediately recognised the man as her 41-year-old husband, Arshad Habib,” Masih said.

The woman reportedly said Habib had vanished the same day with their two minor children without informing her.

Masih said his daughter’s medical condition made her vulnerable. He also said the family later learned that Habib had already been married three times and had children from those marriages.

Police later showed the family documents claiming Nisha had converted to Islam on Feb. 15 and married Habib three days later, according to the report.

“We were shocked to see an alleged conversion certificate and marriage documents presented as proof that my daughter willingly converted and married the accused,” Masih said.

Masih said the family believes the documents were fabricated to shield Habib from criminal prosecution.

The family’s lawyer, Zunara Patrick, said Habib had allegedly maintained multiple marriages at the same time. Patrick said the legal team located Habib in Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab province, where he was allegedly staying with Nisha and two children he had taken from his third wife.

Patrick said she has filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of Habib’s third wife seeking the recovery of her two children. She has also named Habib as the main suspect in Nisha’s kidnapping case.

According to Patrick, Habib prepared fabricated legal documents to mislead investigators.

“A statement purportedly submitted before a magistrate in Lahore on March 2 claims that Nisha is 18 years old, converted to Islam voluntarily and married Habib of her own free will,” Patrick said.

Patrick rejected the authenticity of the statement and accused Habib of using religion to avoid accountability.

The case follows another reported incident in Punjab province involving a Christian family that said police refused to recover a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted at gunpoint, forcibly converted to Islam and married to her kidnapper.

Afzal Javed Masih of Jaranwala said his daughter, Sidra Bibi, was abducted from their home March 27 by a Muslim man named Ali Murtaza and two accomplices, according to Christian Daily International. Masih said the men entered the home by climbing a wall and abducted Sidra at gunpoint.

Police registered a case, but Masih said officers incorrectly listed his daughter’s age as 17 instead of 15, the age stated on her official birth certificate.

“I am illiterate and only learned of this discrepancy later, when a rights activist pointed it out,” he said.

Masih said police initially arrested relatives of the suspect, but later released them after documents surfaced claiming Sidra had converted to Islam and willingly married Murtaza Ali in Rahim Yar Khan district. (Source: IANS)