The national flag of Pakistan /Envato Market

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – A 16-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan has been rescued after she was allegedly abducted by a Muslim man who forced her to convert to Islam, marry him in a sham ceremony, and endure months of abuse, rights advocates said.

The girl, whose name is withheld as a rape victim, said she was taken on May 19 from her home in Punjab Province’s Nankana Sahib District by 28-year-old Muhammad Asim.

She told the well-informed Christian Daily International–Morning Star News services that he coerced her into signing conversion papers, then sexually assaulted and exploited her.

The troubles began when “I had taken my Class X matriculation exams and used to go to an academy for IT and English language courses when Asim targeted me. He worked as a chef at a nearby fast-food outlet and began monitoring my movements. He first tried to manipulate me by offering gifts, but when I refused, he started to harass me,” she recalled.

The Christian teenager reported the stalking to her father, impoverished mason Shahzad Masih, but due to fears of potential backlash in their predominantly Muslim neighborhood and he apparently advised her to keep quiet and try to avoid Asim.

Though she changed her route to the academy and often walked with friends for safety, Asim continued to harass her, she said . On the morning of May 19, she was on her way to the academy unaccompanied when Asim allegedly forcibly took her away.

FALSE CONVERSION

After she signing the false conversion papers he “took me to his home, but his Muslim wife refused to accept his ‘second marriage’ and left for her parents’ home along with her two children. In the following days, Asim repeatedly raped me and subjected me to immense physical and psychological abuse,” the teenager added.

Both Asim and his mother made her believe her family would never accept her, and that she had no option but to do whatever they wanted, she said. “They also began forcing drugs on me, due to which my mind became numb, and I lost my ability to think, gradually falling into depression.”

Seeking to profit from her suffering, Asim brought her to various locations in the district and forced her to sleep with other Muslim men, she said.

“Asim would torture me by tying me to a bed or door and then beat me with slaps and plastic pipes when I refused to do the sex work,” she said. “I was literally trapped in hell, and every day I used to plead to God to give me death because I couldn’t bear this torment anymore.”

Her father, Shahzad Masih, sought help from police, but officers refused to file an abduction report, dismissing it as a “love marriage,” according to Christians’ True Spirit (CTS), a legal aid group.

After months of searching, CTS filed a petition for her recovery. Police detained Asim and the girl on August 14, and a judge released her to her family the next day for medical care. CTS said she is suffering from severe infections, malnourishment, and trauma.

WIDER TREND

Advocates say the case highlights a broader pattern of targeting vulnerable Christian and Hindu girls in Pakistan.

Human rights groups estimate that around 1,000 non-Muslim girls are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam every year, many of them minors.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has reported that at least 20 Hindu girls are abducted and converted each month, though the true number is likely higher due to underreporting.

Christians, who make up only about 1.37 percent of Pakistan’s population, face systemic discrimination, including false blasphemy accusations, violence, and bias in police and courts. United Nations experts have warned that Christian and Hindu girls remain particularly vulnerable to forced religious conversion.

Pakistan ranked eighth on advocacy group Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

“We strongly urge the government to criminalize forced conversions and raise the legal age for marriage of girls to 18,” said CTS coordinator Katherine Sapna. “Police must take immediate action in cases of abduction of minority girls. These atrocities under the cover of religion must not be allowed to continue.”

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