- Feb 5, 2002
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LAHORE, Pakistan — A federal court in Pakistan has given custody of a 13-year-old Christian girl to a Muslim man who kidnapped and forcibly converted and married her, sources said.
The parents of Maria Shahbaz were devastated at the ruling after the two-judge bench of the newly constituted Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) rejected her official birth record and disregarded earlier judicial findings that the marriage was illegal, said Safdar Chaudhry, chairperson of rights group Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry.
Justice Karim Khan Agha and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi accepted Maria’s statement, which her parents and their attorney say was given under coercion, that she had converted to Islam and married 30-year-old Shehryar Ahmad of her own free will, Chaudhry said.
“We were hopeful that the court would consider the girl’s official birth document (B-Form) and the sessions court order confirming that the accused had contracted an illegal marriage with a minor,” Chaudhry told Christian Daily International–Morning Star News. “Even the investigating officer informed the court that no marriage record existed at the relevant union council, yet this was ignored.”
Continued below.
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The parents of Maria Shahbaz were devastated at the ruling after the two-judge bench of the newly constituted Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) rejected her official birth record and disregarded earlier judicial findings that the marriage was illegal, said Safdar Chaudhry, chairperson of rights group Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry.
Justice Karim Khan Agha and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi accepted Maria’s statement, which her parents and their attorney say was given under coercion, that she had converted to Islam and married 30-year-old Shehryar Ahmad of her own free will, Chaudhry said.
“We were hopeful that the court would consider the girl’s official birth document (B-Form) and the sessions court order confirming that the accused had contracted an illegal marriage with a minor,” Chaudhry told Christian Daily International–Morning Star News. “Even the investigating officer informed the court that no marriage record existed at the relevant union council, yet this was ignored.”
Continued below.
Pakistan court gives Muslim kidnapper custody of 13-year-old Christian girl
A federal court in Pakistan has given custody of a 13-year-old Christian girl to a Muslim man who kidnapped and forcibly converted and married her
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