By Ewelina U. Ochab
At the end of April 2020, a 14 year old Christian girl, Myra Shehbaz, was reportedly abducted and forced to marry in Faisalabad, Punjab. According to International Christian Concern, “Myra Shehbaz was abducted by a group of Muslim men led by Muhammad Naqash. Eye witnesses claim that Myra was attacked while she was traveling to her workplace as a domestic worker on Sunday afternoon. Pervez Masih, Younas Masih, and Naeem Masih, the eye witnesses, claimed that Myra’s abductors forced her into a car and that Myra tried to resist. These eye witnesses were unable to help Myra because abductors were armed and fired several shots into the air.” Myra’s mother, Nighat, told International Christian Concern that she feared her daughter would be “raped, forcefully converted toIslam, or even killed.”
Unfortunately, her concerns are not farfetched. According to the Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP), a human rights organization in the country, around 1,000 Christian and Hindu women and girls are kidnapped each year, forced to convert and marry Muslim men. The victims are usually between the ages of 12 and 25.
Despite these shocking statistics, the number of victims may be even higher as many cases remain unreported, often due to the girls’ families limited financial means. As recently as March, I wrote about the case of another Christian girl, Huma Younus, 14 years old at the time of her abduction. Huma was allegedly abducted from her parents’ home in Karachi on October 10, 2019, by a man named Abdul Jabbar of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab Province. Other known cases from recent years include a Christian girl, Mehwish, who was kidnapped when she was just 14. It was reported that the police have not taken appropriate steps to investigate her case or attempt to rescue her. The same is true in the case of a 13-year-old Christian girl, Sana John. Two teenage girls, Farzana and Sehrish, aged 14 and 16 respectively, were abducted and subjected to gang rape perpetrated by three Muslim men. Despite the fact that one of the perpetrators was apprehended, the family was pressured to settle the case outside of court. Similarly, the case of Maria Sarfraz, an 11-year-old girl abducted and gang-raped for three days, was forcibly settled out of court.
Considering the damning data from MSP, there are many more stories like these, which are yet to be heard.
The latest information in the case of Myra Shehbaz suggests that she was forcibly converted and married to her abductors. Although a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) certificate has been produced confirming her age, a marriage certificate contradicts this, stating her age as 18. A typed statement was also produced, allegedly made by her, stating that she left her home and married willingly. The case is yet to proceed through the courts. However, this does not mean that justice will be served and the girl will be reunited with her family. Indeed, the reports suggest a variety of approaches to such cases concerning abducted, forced conversion and forced marriages.
In another case, Nasira v Judicial Magistrate, the Lahore High Court recognized that an under age girl lacks legal capacity to convert. In the case, Nasira, a Christian woman, has filed a petition for her minor daughter Pumy Muskan to be recovered from the alleged illegal custody of people (referred to in the judgment as the Respondent No. 5 & 6) and dealt with in accordance with law. Respondent No. 5 & 6 employed the 14-year-old girl, Pumy Muskan, as part of a household. After a few months, when the mother went to meet Pumy Muskan, Respondents No.5 & 6 told her that Pumy Muskan was with the sister of Respondent No.5 in another city and, having embraced Islam, did not want to see her mother any more. After a lengthy legal battle, ultimately, the Lahore High Court decided that “Pumy Muskan is barely 14 years old. As she is not sui juris she lacks legal capacity to change religion on her own. However, the question of faith being a matter of heart and one’s conviction, no Court can declare her conversion invalid or void. It can only refuse to recognize or give effect to it for certain legal purposes. The Petitioner being the lawful guardian of Pumy Muskan is entitled to her custody. There is no reason to deprive her of that right.”
Many such cases, of women and girls being abducted, forcibly converted, forcibly ‘married’ and abused by their abductors, continue to be neglected by the police and the justice system. This only allows further crimes to be committed. Every child deserves a normal childhood. Every girl deserves to be a child and to be afforded the opportunity to flourish. Pakistan needs to step up its approach of dealing with such cases and ensure proper investigations and prosecutions of the perpetrators and reunification of the children with their parents. However, a change in society is also required so that abduction of a child, forced conversion and forced marriage are considered abhorrent. There is still a long way to go.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2020/05/08/yet-another-girl-in-pakistan-abducted-forcibly-converted-and-forcibly-married-to-her-abductor/#5d23946474da
