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A Christian father in Pakistan, Shakeel Masih, has been arrested for hiding his 13-year-old daughter after she was kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam, and marry a Muslim man. Now the Christian family is calling on humanitarian organizations to speak out against the lack of protections afforded to religious minorities in the majority Muslim nation.
Asia News reports that Roshani Shakeel was initially abducted from her family on March 13, 2024. Local authorities were said to have facilitated her forced conversion with the complicity of an imam, registering her as an 18-year-old and changing her name to Zehra Bibi. She was married to 28-year-old Muazzam Mazher, her captor, who is not currently under investigation for any crime.
After hearing Mazher talk about selling her, Roshani was able to escape her captivity and returned to the Christian family. Soon after, Multan police came to retrieve the girl and return her to Mazher, but Shakeel Masih refused to hand his daughter over or reveal her whereabouts. Masih was reportedly arrested for three days, during which time he was beaten by the police in an attempt to coerce a confession from him.
His wife, Nazia Bibi, told Asia News:
“My husband has been detained for the last three days. The police are torturing our family, including my husband's brothers, and have lodged false FIRs (First Information Reports) against us. The reason is to refrain us from raising our voice to obtain justice for our daughter.”
A report from EU Today notes that instead of releasing Masih, a judge has ordered that he be held for another three days, for not handing over his daughter under duress. Now, Nazia is accusing the police and justice system of protecting the same criminals who kidnapped, abused, and planned to traffic her daughter.
The situation has drawn condemnation from minority rights advocate Joseph Jansen, who stated:
“Child marriages and the sexual exploitation of underage girls from religious minorities are too often validated by the courts, which misuse religious law to keep victims with their abductors instead of reuniting them with their families. This systemic failure must be addressed to protect the rights and dignity of our most vulnerable children.”
He went on to call on the UN to “hold Pakistan accountable” and demand that the nation meet its human rights obligations under its GSP status. Other advocates have called for greater protections for children in Pakistan, like raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 years old. It is unclear if such measures would have helped in this case, as Roshani’s age was altered by her captors.
In July, Pakistan passed the Christian Marriage Act, which stipulates that marriage may only occur “when both contracting parties are 18 years old.” This law, however, does not hold for Muslim communities, which make up over 90% of the Pakistani population.
