A 12-year-old Christian girl has been forcibly taken from her home at gunpoint by three men in Pakistan, with her parents fearing she may be sold into sexual slavery.
The daughter of Gulzar Masih and Sumera Gulzar, was abducted on 20th January in Okara District, Punjab Province, according to the Christian Post.
The assailants, led by their 40-year-old neighbour Sajjad Baloch, also known as Saajhu Baloch, stormed into their home before seizing her and escaping in a white car, according to her mother.
“I tried to resist, but they took my daughter by force,” Sumera recounted.
She reached out to Baloch’s family, who initially promised to return the girl within a few days. However, the following day, Baloch himself called and issued a chilling threat.
“He told me he would rape my daughter and sell her to traffickers if we involved the authorities,” she said.
Despite repeated pleas, Baloch’s family offered no assistance. On January 24, the family fled, locking their home behind them, prompting the parents to seek police intervention.
“Baloch is a known criminal in our area, while we are poor and powerless,” said Ariha’s Father, Gulzar Masih.
Their financial struggles had already forced them to withdraw Ariha from school last year.
More than a week after reporting the abduction, police have yet to recover the girl.
“We visit the station daily, hoping for news, but so far, there’s been no progress,” Masih said, pleading with Punjab authorities to intervene.
Fearing Ariha could be forcibly converted to Islam and married off, Masih urged the government to act swiftly to prevent her from being trafficked.
“We beg for justice and demand severe punishment for those responsible,” he said.
Joseph Janssen, a field officer with Jubilee Campaign, noted that the family's reluctance to go to the police initially stemmed from deep mistrust in the justice system, exacerbated by poverty and discrimination.
“We are standing with them in their fight for justice and are providing legal aid,” he said.
He also highlighted a disturbing trend in Pakistan, where Christian and other minority girls are frequently abducted, forced into marriage, and coerced into converting to Islam.
A bill criminalising child marriage has been pending in the Punjab Assembly since April.
The proposed legislation aims to raise the minimum marriage age to 18 for both boys and girls.
However, under existing laws, girls can still be married off at 16.
Nationally, the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024 set the marriageable age at 18 exclusively for Christians—unless they convert to Islam, in which case they fall under Sharia law, which allows marriage at a younger age.
Rights advocates report that kidnapped girls, some as young as ten, are frequently forced into conversion, raped under the guise of Islamic marriage, and pressured into giving statements favouring their captors.
Judges often disregard official age documentation, returning the victims to their abductors as “legal wives".
Pakistan currently ranks eighth on the Open Doors 2025 World Watch List, which ranks the most dangerous places to live as a Christian.