A high court in Pakistan has set a date to hear the case of a 13-year-old Christian girl forced to marry her kidnapper.
Maria Shahbaz was kidnapped in July 2025 by 30-year-old Shehryar Ahmad. He forced her to renounce her faith, and “married” her against her will. Maria has been subject to physical, sexual and emotional abuse since then.
In a grave blow to her rights, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled in December 2025 to award custody of her to her kidnapper.
The new hearing on 24th July will re-examine evidence, given that Maria was a minor at the time of her abduction, and therefore unable to consent to marriage. Previous courts had dismissed her age in their decisions.
She is being championed by the Christian legal organisation Alliance Defending Freedom. On 9th of July, the European Parliament highlighted her case and strongly condemned the Pakistani Federal Court's decision.
Maria's case is not in isolation; the UN states that in 2025, around 25% of women and girls who underwent a forced "conversion" via marriage were Christian.