Nadeem Masih and wife Nadia Nadeem plead for recovery of daughter Amber Nadeem. (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News screenshot from video)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A court in Pakistan on Saturday (July 25) handed custody of a 13-year-old Christian girl to the Muslim accused of abducting her, forcibly converting her to Islam and coercing her into marriage, a rights advocate said.
The ruling came despite a pending court-ordered medical examination to determine her age, said Joseph Janssen, chairman of the advocacy group Voice for Justice.
Faisalabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Rana Sohail accepted an affidavit submitted by the minor, Amber Nadeem, in which she claimed she had voluntarily embraced Islam and married the suspect, Mohsin Liaqat, and denied that she had been abducted, Janssen said.
“After the girl recorded her statement, the judge accepted Liaqat’s post-arrest bail application,” he told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “He had been in judicial custody since June 26. Amber then left the courtroom with the accused’s relatives and lawyers while her impoverished parents stood by in tears after witnessing a grave injustice.”
The ruling came despite strong opposition from government prosecutor Muhammad Anwar Naz, who urged the court to reject the bail application and presented the complete case record, Janssen said.
“The court’s decision shocked both the family and rights activists,” he said.
Amber appeared before a judicial magistrate on June 27 and disclosed that members of the accused’s family had coached and pressured her into falsely claiming she was an adult, according to Janssen. The suspect subsequently produced a conversion certificate and a marriage certificate listing Amber’s date of birth as June 2008, even though her parents were married in 2012, raising serious questions about the authenticity of the documents, he added.
“In light of these glaring inconsistencies, the magistrate ordered a medical examination to determine Amber’s age and directed that she be placed in a government shelter home pending further proceedings,” Janssen said.
The activist questioned why the sessions court proceeded to grant custody and bail before the medical examination had been completed.
“Despite the unresolved contradictions regarding her age and statement, and despite the fact that the medical report has not yet been submitted to the magistrate’s court, the sessions judge granted Amber’s custody to the man accused of abducting and marrying her, while also releasing him on bail,” he said.
Janssen also alleged that during the June 27 court proceedings, lawyers representing the suspect warned Amber that she could face punishment for apostasy if she renounced Islam.
“This is a grave abuse of legal and moral authority,” he said. “The defense also argued that laws enacted to protect children, women and religious minorities cease to apply once a person, regardless of age, converts to Islam.”
He said that returning a minor to the custody or influence of the person accused of abducting and sexually exploiting her undermines the criminal justice system’s duty to protect vulnerable children.
“It exposes the child to intimidation, violence, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and continued coercion, amounting to inhumane treatment,” he said.
Janssen called on the government and judiciary to intervene immediately to ensure Amber’s safety, uphold the rule of law and hold those responsible accountable.
In a video previously shared with Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, Amber’s mother, Nadia Nadeem, appealed publicly for help in recovering her daughter.
“Our lives have been shattered since our child was taken from us,” she said. “We repeatedly sought help from the police, but no one listened. We appeal to everyone to help bring our daughter home safely.”
The Faisalabad court’s ruling came one day after Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) agreed on Friday (July 24) to review its controversial judgment upholding the Islamic marriage of another 13-year-old Christian girl, Maria Shahbaz, to her alleged abductor, Shehryar Ahmad, a 30-year-old Muslim.
Supreme Court Advocate Muhammad Saqib Jillani, counsel for Maria’s family, argued that the FCC had committed multiple legal errors by validating a marriage that violated Pakistan’s child marriage laws despite official records confirming that Maria was under the legal age.
“The court ignored compelling evidence that the marriage was unlawful because Maria was underage according to her official birth records,” Jillani told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
Although the FCC acknowledged that the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, applies equally to Muslims and non-Muslims, Jillani said the court failed to give effect to the Federal Shariat Court’s authoritative interpretation of Islamic law.
“The Federal Shariat Court has made it clear that marriage in Islam is not determined solely by biological puberty or the capacity for sexual relations,” he said. “Marriage creates legal rights and responsibilities that require mental maturity, psychological stability and economic capacity.”
Jillani noted that the Federal Shariat Court distinguished between the Islamic concepts of Balugh (physical puberty) and Rushd (mental maturity), observing that classical Islamic jurisprudence has long treated the two concepts separately.
“Mental maturity frequently develops later than physical maturity because it depends on intellectual, emotional and educational development,” he said, adding that the Federal Shariat Court cited classical Islamic scholarship, including the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifa, who regarded 25 years as a reasonable benchmark for attaining full Rushd.
He also disputed the FCC’s conclusion that while the Child Marriage Restraint Act criminalizes child marriage, it does not render such marriages legally void.
Maria Shahbaz’s case has become one of Pakistan’s most closely watched religious freedom cases, drawing international attention from human rights organizations and European lawmakers concerned about the abduction, forced conversion and marriage of underage girls from religious minority communities.
On July 9, the European Parliament adopted a resolution highlighting Maria’s case and urging Pakistan to establish a national mechanism for receiving complaints from families of abducted or forcibly converted girls belonging to religious minority communities.
According to her family, Maria was abducted in July 2025 by Ahmad, who allegedly forced her to convert to Islam and compelled her to marry him. On Feb. 3, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the marriage was valid and ordered that she remain in Ahmad’s custody. The court’s decision is now under review.
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- Nadeem Masih and wife Nadia Nadeem plead for recovery of daughter Amber Nadeem. (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News screenshot from video)
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