Pakistani Christian Girl Escapes Forced Conversion and Marriage After 13 Years
April 04, 2025
After enduring over a decade of abuse, a young Pakistani Christian woman has escaped a life of captivity and reclaimed her identity, shedding light on the ongoing crisis of religious minority persecution in Pakistan.
Shahida Bibi was only 11 years old when her mother left her father to marry a Muslim man. In a heartbreaking betrayal, Shahida was handed over to her new step-uncle, who kept her captive and subjected her to repeated abuse. By the time she turned 18, she was forcibly married to her abuser and coerced into converting to Islam, a grim reality faced by many Christian girls in Pakistan.
However, Shahida’s story took a rare turn. After enduring 13 years of captivity, she managed to escape with her child and reunite with her father. In a landmark decision, a civil court in Bahawalpur annulled her forced marriage in February 2025, and she was reissued identity documents that officially recognized her Christian faith.
Her story underscores the grave vulnerabilities faced by Christian girls in Pakistan, where every year an estimated 1,000 girls, mostly Christian, Hindu, or Sikh, are abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off, often to much older men.
Although Pakistan’s legal marriage age ranges from 16 to 18 depending on the region, under Sharia law, girls can be married as soon as they reach puberty. Abductions are often aided by family members hoping to escape poverty or gain a better social standing. Victims are frequently too afraid to resist or report their abusers, fearing harm to themselves or their families. Some are blackmailed, and others manipulated into believing conversion will improve their lives.
Education plays a key role in this crisis. Many Christian girls do not attend school due to limited access and religious discrimination. Illiteracy leaves them especially vulnerable, some are tricked into signing documents they cannot read.
In an effort to combat these injustices, advocates are calling for the establishment of a uniform marriage age of 18 across all of Pakistan. In 2024, an amendment to the Christian Marriage Act was passed, raising the legal age of marriage to 18, but only in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
In Pakistan, legal systems and law enforcement often fail to support victims. Police routinely ignore complaints from families, and even when cases reach court, girls face intimidation by their abductors and their families. Victims are pressured to stay silent or even to remain in abusive marriages due to societal and legal obstacles, particularly when identity documents list them as Muslim.
Changing official identity cards back to “Christian” is critical in helping victims reclaim their freedom. Without that change, women are often returned to their Muslim “husbands” or denied employment or legal protections.
While incremental reforms are essential, the deeper issue is a cultural climate that tolerates and even condones forced conversions. Victims are often advised by authorities and even shelters to accept their new religion as a positive change.
This systemic failure, from police indifference to biased courtrooms, creates an environment where such abuse is normalized. And until that culture changes, Christian girls like Shahida Bibi will continue to suffer in silence.