The Case of Shamraiz Masih: A Stark Reminder of Pakistan’s Forced Conversion Crisis 


August 01, 2025

The case of Shamraiz Masih, a 14-year-old Christian boy allegedly abducted and forcibly converted to Islam by his Muslim employer in Sultan Town, Sargodha, has sparked outrage across Pakistan and raised fresh concerns over the growing menace of forced religious conversions targeting minority children.


Sargodha, Pakistan - On July 21, 2025, Shamraiz left his home to run a routine errand. He never returned. The boy had recently begun working as an apprentice at a motorcycle repair shop owned by Rana Munir, following the death of his father four months earlier. His mother, a Christian widow, had no choice but to send him to work to support the family. After a fruitless search, Shamraiz’s brother, Sahil Masih, filed a police report under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which addresses abduction.

The family soon received a tip that Shamraiz had been taken to the Madina Ghausia Madrassa, an Islamic seminary. When his brothers arrived to find him, they were told he had “voluntarily” converted to Islam and was no longer part of their family. According to the family’s attorney, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, this claim was fabricated to cover up the forced conversion and abduction.

Chaudhry, a human rights advocate and former member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly, revealed that the following day, an application was submitted in a Sargodha court under the name "Muhammad Umar," the Muslim name allegedly given to Shamraiz. The document claimed that he was 15 years old and had embraced Islam of his own free will, further asserting that the abduction case filed by his brother was baseless.

However, instead of appearing in court in Sargodha on July 25 where he would have been reunited with his grieving mother and siblings, Shamraiz was quietly taken to a court in Lahore to record a statement without his family's knowledge. This move, Chaudhry asserts, was a calculated attempt to prevent the boy from revealing the truth under the emotional weight of seeing his family.

“This was a deliberate act to isolate Shamraiz from his mother, who remains his legal guardian,” said Chaudhry. “If he had seen her, he likely would have spoken the truth.”

The attorney argues that the conversion was not a matter of faith, but control: “There’s no plausible reason for this alleged conversion other than to keep the boy in permanent bondage under his employer.”

Attempts to appeal to local Muslim leaders for intervention have failed. “We told them we respect religious freedom for adults, but forced conversions of minors must be condemned,” Chaudhry said. “Unfortunately, we received no meaningful response.”

The situation was raised in the Punjab Provincial Assembly on July 25. Falbous Christopher, Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, and other Christian lawmakers condemned the incident, calling on the government to act decisively.

“The pleas of a desperate mother have shaken the Christian community,” Christopher said. “How could a 14-year-old, uneducated boy independently choose to convert, while the rest of his family remains Christian? This defies logic and undermines our country’s reputation.”

Though abductions and forced conversions of Christian and Hindu girls in Pakistan are sadly well-documented, similar cases involving boys are rare. However, Shamraiz’s ordeal is not isolated. In a separate incident last September, another Christian boy, 17-year-old Samsoon Javed, was also reportedly forced to convert by his Muslim employer in Sheikhupura District.

Forced conversions often exploit a legal grey area in Pakistan. While the Constitution recognizes 18 as the legal age of adulthood for voting and other civil matters, it sets no minimum age for religious conversion. This dangerous inconsistency leaves minors highly vulnerable to coercion.

Advocacy groups across the world stress that regardless of any statements the child may have been pressured into giving, the act of taking a minor from their family and subjecting them to religious indoctrination without parental consent constitutes abduction under Pakistani law.

Shamraiz Masih’s case is not just a family tragedy it is a reflection of a broader crisis. Each forced conversion erodes the principles of justice, freedom, and equality that Pakistan’s Constitution is meant to uphold. Urgent legal reforms, strict enforcement, and a national commitment to protecting religious minorities are essential steps to ending this cycle of abuse.

As Shamraiz’s mother continues to plead for her son’s safe return, her voice echoes that of countless others still waiting for justice in silence.