In yet another heartbreaking case of grooming and forced conversion, a 12-year-old Christian girl from Lahore has been taken by a Muslim man nearly three times her age. The abductor transported her to Sindh, where he forcibly converted and married her—despite laws prohibiting child marriage. Her distraught parents, abandoned by law enforcement and denied justice, have turned to the British Asian Christian Association (BACA) for help in rescuing their innocent daughter.
On 5th January, 12-year-old Saba Shafique, a Christian girl from Lahore, went missing after leaving home to buy fresh milk from the bazaar. Her family’s worst fears were confirmed when they discovered that Muhammad Ali (33 years old)—a long-time acquaintance of the family—had abducted her.
Ali took Saba nearly 1,000 km away to Nawabshah, Sindh, where, on 8th January, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Muhammad Bahar, he forcibly converted her to Islam and married her. The so-called conversion and marriage were facilitated by Allama Molana Syed Sajjad Hussain, the imam of a local mosque, who falsified official records to claim that Saba was 18 years old—a blatant attempt to legitimize the illegal union.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Muhammad Ali had taken my daughter away,” Rakhel Bibi tearfully told BACA.
On 25th January, the BACA team visited Saba’s family, offering legal support and assuring them that BACA would stand by them until their innocent daughter is safely returned home.
Saba’s mother, Rakhel Bibi (38 years old), shared that Muhammad Ali became a trusted family friend five years ago. Over time, he built a close relationship with the family, gaining their confidence. Saba’s father, Shafiqe Masih, a house painter, frequently interacted with Muhammad Ali, who worked as an electrician and plumber. His regular visits, under the pretense of work discussions, allowed him unrestricted access to their home—an access he ultimately betrayed in the most horrifying way.
“I never doubted him, for I had always treated him like my brother,” Rakhel Bibi tearfully told BACA.
On 5th January, around 7:00 am, Saba went out to purchase fresh milk for the family. When she didn’t return after a while, her parents began to worry. Rakhel and Shafique went searching for her, checking the streets and neighboring areas, but there was no sign of their daughter. However, a neighbour named Barkat informed them that he had seen Muhammad Ali, carrying a bag, standing in front of their house.
All day long, Shafique and Rakhel tried calling Muhammad Ali’s number, but it kept going straight to voicemail. Their anxiety grew with each unanswered call, and after a long, painful day of waiting, the distraught parents decided to go to the Factory Area Police Station to file a formal complaint about their missing daughter. The police registered a First Information Report (FIR No. 139/25) under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which pertains to abduction. Initially, the complaint was lodged against an unknown person. However, following the testimony of an eyewitness, Baba Barkat, the police arrested Muhammad Jamil, the brother of Muhammad Ali, and began interrogating him at the station. Despite the efforts, the investigation yielded no significant results, as Muhammad Jamil claimed he didn’t know where his brother had taken Saba.
| 365. | Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person: Whoever kidnaps or abducts any person with intent to cause that person to be secretly and wrongfully confined, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. |
Meanwhile, Rakhel and Shafique continued their relentless attempts to reach Muhammad Ali by phone, but his line remained switched off. Their hope was fading, and their fear for their daughter’s safety grew with every passing hour.
On the evening of 8th January, an unexpected development took place. Ali Bahar, the brother-in-law of Muhammad Ali, called Investigation Officer Muhammad Nasir and provided him with copies of conversion and marriage certificates for Saba and Muhammad Ali. These documents confirmed that Saba had been converted to Islam and married to Muhammad Ali.
The following day, Officer Muhammad Nasir summoned Rakhel Bibi and Shafique Masih to the police station. There, he showed them the certificates, revealing the devastating truth — Saba was in Nawabshah, a city in Sindh province, nearly a thousand kilometers away from Lahore. This revelation left Rakhel and Shafique in shock, as their worst fears had been confirmed.
“I called Muhammad Ali on his mobile, but it didn’t respond, which made Barkat’s statement all the more alarming,” Rakhel recalled.
“I couldn’t believe it—Muhammad Ali, a family friend for so long, had done this to us,” she added, her voice filled with disbelief and sorrow.
The news fell like a thunderbolt to us both, and it felt like our hearts had stopped beating,” Shafique Masih shared with BACA, his voice filled with sorrow.
“I told the police that my daughter was just 12 years old. How could she decide to convert and marry a man who was much older than her?” he continued. “But the police didn’t take my pain seriously and told me that nothing could be done.”
“We arrived home crying for Saba,” Shafique added, his eyes welling up with grief.
The police ultimately released Muhammad Jamil at the request of Rakhel and Shafique, who did not want to punish him for the actions of his brother, Muhammad Ali.
On 3rd February, the BACA team accompanied Shafique Masih to the office of Mr. Imran Kishwar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), where they filed a formal application requesting that the investigation officer take action to arrest Muhammad Ali and recover Saba from his captivity.
The next day, 4th February, Mr. Kishwar called Shafique and marked the application to the Station House Officer of Factory Area Police Station, instructing Muhammad Nasir, the investigation officer, to raid Muhammad Bahar’s residence in Nawabshah and arrest Muhammad Ali for the illegal conversion and forced marriage of a minor girl.
Shafique Masih is a house painter who works tirelessly to support his family—his wife, Rakhel Bibi, and their four children: Anmol Bibi (16 years), Samah (14 years), Saba (12 years), and Ayan (10 years). As a daily wage worker, Shafique does not have a regular income, making his family’s livelihood uncertain. Rakhel, a devoted housewife, manages the household while her husband works to provide for them. In this time of crisis, the family has turned to BACA, seeking help to travel to Sindh with the police to recover their precious daughter, Saba.
The conversion of minority women and minor girls is a deeply concerning issue in Pakistan. Every year, thousands of girls from religious minorities are abducted, forcibly converted, and married to men often twice their age. These crimes are frequently disguised as “love marriages,” but the reality is far darker. This rising trend exposes the government’s failure to protect minority women and girls from such abductions and forced marriages, leaving many families like Saba’s shattered and helpless. The situation calls for urgent intervention to ensure justice and to prevent more lives from being torn apart by such heinous acts.
We are urgently seeking your help to raise £2,000 to cover the costs of hiring a legal advocate to assist in the recovery of 12-year-old Saba Shafique, a Christian girl who was forcibly abducted, converted to Islam, and married to a man almost three times her age.
Saba’s family, Shafique Masih and Rakhel Bibi, are devastated by the disappearance of their daughter, who was taken by a long-time family friend, Muhammad Ali, from their home in Lahore, Pakistan. Despite their best efforts, the local authorities have shown little support, leaving the family helpless and in deep distress. They are now seeking professional legal assistance to navigate the complex and often hostile legal system in Sindh, where Saba was taken.
The £2,000 will go directly to securing a legal advocate who can:
- Challenge the forced marriage and conversion of Saba in court.
- Work with local authorities to ensure that Saba is safely returned to her family.
- Fight for justice and help prevent similar abuses from happening to other vulnerable girls in Pakistan.
Conversion and forced marriage of minority girls in Pakistan is an escalating crisis that has devastated countless families. As Saba’s case continues to unfold, her family is desperate for justice, but they cannot do this alone.
How you can help:
- Donate: Any contribution, big or small, will make a significant impact in securing the legal support needed to bring Saba home.
- Share: Help spread the word by sharing this appeal with your network, raising awareness of this urgent case.
Together, we can give Saba a chance to return home and help ensure that her story is not forgotten. Please donate today (click here) and stand with the Shafique family in their fight for justice.
Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee, British Asian Christian Association, said:
“Every child deserves the right to grow up in safety, with dignity and respect. The abduction and forced conversion of young girls like Saba is not just a personal tragedy; it is a violation of their basic human rights. The systemic failure to protect children from such heinous acts is a profound injustice. In Pakistan, the laws meant to safeguard children and minority communities are rendered ineffective by the indifference of law enforcement and the growing influence of Sharia law in the courts.
Despite the state’s legal framework, the persistence of forced conversions and marriages of Christian girls is alarming. Muslim judges, when faced with these cases, often accept Sharia law in court, prioritizing religious laws over the state’s protection of children, leaving young girls like Saba vulnerable to being forced into marriages with much older men.
She added:
“Every child deserves the right to grow up in safety, with dignity, and respect. The abduction and forced conversion of young girls like Saba is not just a personal tragedy; it is a violation of their basic human rights. Unfortunately, the laws designed to protect these children are often rendered ineffective, not only by the negligence of law enforcement but also by the growing influence of Sharia law in the courts.
The Punjab Province government made a significant step forward by submitting the draft of the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2024, which aims to raise the legal age of marriage for both boys and girls to 18 — a vital move considering that the previous legal age for girls was just 16. Under this proposed bill, anyone who marries or arranges a marriage for a child under the age of 18, including parents or guardians, would face two to three years in prison and a fine of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees. While this is a necessary and much-needed change, the bill has not yet been ratified, and there remains widespread opposition from some quarters.
Many Muslim judges have openly condemned the law, claiming that it is unconstitutional and fails to align with Islamic jurisprudence, which permits marriage once a girl has reached puberty. This resistance directly undermines the government’s effort to protect vulnerable children, and it highlights the power of Sharia law in courts, which often takes precedence over the country’s state laws. The result is that girls like Saba are left exposed to exploitation, with their voices drowned out by a system that is more inclined to uphold religious law than to safeguard their basic rights.
The continued inaction of local authorities, coupled with the reluctance of some judges to accept state laws, perpetuates a culture of impunity for the perpetrators of forced conversions and child marriages. This not only robs these children of their future but also undermines the very purpose of law — to protect the vulnerable and ensure justice for all.”
The Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) is designed to protect individuals from abduction and forced marriages through Section 364-A and Section 365-B, which specifically criminalize the kidnapping and abduction of girls and women, as well as forced marriages. These legal provisions are intended to safeguard individuals from the horrific practices of abduction and coerced marital unions.
Additionally, Pakistan has committed to international human rights standards by ratifying key treaties aimed at protecting children and women. In 1990, Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years, reflecting global consensus on the need to protect children from early marriage. Furthermore, Pakistan also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which guarantees women the right to freely and fully consent to marriage, reinforcing the importance of personal agency and the protection of women from forced marriages.
