The Associated Press (AP) reported in 2020 that around 1,000 minority girls are kidnapped annually in Pakistan, especially girls from Christian and Hindu families. After kidnapping, the girls are forcibly married (nikah ritual) to older men and forcibly converted to Islam.
15-year-old Sitara kidnapped by 60-year-old Muslim man
One example is the Christian 15-year-old girl Sitara, who was kipnapped on December 15, 2022.
Sitara's family is poor, so she had to work as a domestic help for a Muslim family. It was the 60-year-old husband of the Muslim family, Rana Tayyab, who kidnapped her.
Sitara's father, Arik Gill, has repeatedly tried to report Tayyab, but the police have done nothing about it. "I went to the police station to report the kidnapping of my daughter, but they refused to take my complaint and forced me out of the building," Gill told Morning Star News.
Finally, when Gill's lawyer heard about the case on February 3, the matter was taken seriously and officers launched raids to find Sitara. When they searched the kipnapper's home, his wife gave the officials the Islamic marriage certificate between him and Sitara.
Islamic nikah used as a cover
"This is the modus operandi in all cases involving forced marriages of underage minority girls. The accused first rapes the victim and then uses an Islamic nikah [marriage certificate] as a cover to escape punishment for this heinous crime," says the lawyer.
The reason this is possible is because the country's legal system operates under a dual system of state and Islamic laws. Under Islamic law, there is no specific minimum age for marriage, leading to cases like this where minority girls are forced to marry much older men after Islamic conversion. This leads to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
"Although the police are now acting, it is unfortunate that the family is not getting justice because they are poor and Christian. Only young girls from minority groups are targeted for forced marriage and conversion because their families are generally poor and have few resources to fight in court," says the lawyer.
"If the police had acted when the crime was first reported, the child could have been found sooner, but the long delay has given the accused ample time to change his whereabouts," he says.
Unfortunately, Morning Star News has not yet reported if Sitara has been found.
How can similar situations be avoided?
The safety of Christian girls can be increased through free schooling at a Christian independent school. This way, they can avoid working for Muslim families and avoid attending a public school where they risk discrimination and persecution.
The Danish European Mission is developing a new school project in northwestern Pakistan. In this area, the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamic extremist groups are stronger than in other parts of the country. It costs 1040 DKK to ensure that a child from a poor and persecuted Christian family can go to school.
