MAIRA SHAHBAZ: The Face of Christian Girls in Pakistan

Young Christians living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which is 97% Muslim, are often insulted and excluded, or else pressured to convert to Islam. For Christian girls, it is even worse, as they face a very real danger of being abducted and forcibly married to their abductors, which at the same time means being forcibly converted to Islam.

While Pakistan like many other countries was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, at about 2 pm on 28th April 2020, Mohammed Nakash and two accomplices bearing arms bundled a 14-year-old Pakistani Christian girl, Maira Shahbaz, into a car near her home, firing shots into the air as they drove off.

The family’s lawyer, Khalil Tahir Sandhu, said that Mr Nakash is already married with two children and came across Maira as he lives not far from her home near Madina Town, where he works as a barber.

The mother and siblings of the kidnapped girl, Maira Shahbaz

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, Maira’s mother Nighat who was rushed to the hospital for suffering shock after two witnesses described how her daughter was kidnapped, said: “I beg that my daughter be returned to us. I am frightened that I will never see her again.” Maira’s older sister, Saira, 16, added: “Maira is still a child and has been taken advantage of.”

ACN also spoke to Lala Robin Daniel, a human rights activist, friend and neighbour of Maira and her family, who said: “The Shahbaz family is one of the poorest in Madina Town. What little they earn is from their work as cleaners. The father has left them and in our society, this poor Christian family is very vulnerable.” Lawyer Khalil confirmed to ACN that on 2nd June he submitted a petition to Lahore High Court to appeal the case and to overturn the ruling of Faisalabad Magistrates’ Court which on 5th May ruled in favour of Mohamad Nakash, who claimed that Maira is 19 in spite of evidence being produced to show she is five years younger, including a birth certificate, as well as official church and school documents.

In an interview with ACN last year, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore, Pakistan, lamented the surge in such abductions especially of under-age Christian and Hindu girls. They are being raped and forced to marry and convert to Islam.