Religion was used by the high court judge to justify the abduction and child marriage of the child.
Takethispin
In shocking news from Pakistan, a 14-year-old minority girl, Maria Shahbaz, who was kidnapped and forcefully married to a Muslim man has been ordered to be returned to her abductor by the Lahore High Court
This decision, made on August 4, overturned an earlier order by the Faisalabad District and Sessions Court, placing Shahbaz in a women’s shelter.
Shahbaz was kidnapped at gunpoint on April 28, 2020, by Mohamad Nakash and two accomplices. Witness reported that the Muslim guys forced Shahbaz into a car and fired gunshots into the air as they fled away.
Nakash took Shahbaz in his custody and justified his action by stating that he and Shahbaz are married and she had converted to Islam. Nakash also forged a marriage certificate stating that Shahbaz is 19 years old to support his claims.
This claim was challenged by Shahbaz’s parents who were hoping to get their daughter back. They presented her birth certificate as evidence in the Faisalabad District and Sessions Court. This document, supported by other school documents, proves that Shahbaz is a minor.
Judge Rana Masood ordered Shahbaz’s release from Nakash’s custody and placed her in a women’s shelter, known as Dar ul Aman until her case was heard by the Lahore High Court.
judge Raja Muhammad Shahid Abbasi of the Lahore High Court overturned the ruling on Aug 04, 2020. J. Judge Abbasi reportedly ruled in favor of Nakash because the court found that Shahbaz had converted to Islam.
As per the Court Witnesses, Shahbaz was in tears when the ruling was announced.
“It is unbelievable,” advocate Khalil Tahir Sandu, the lawyer representing Shahbaz’s parents, told “What we have seen today is an Islamic judgment. The arguments we put forward were very strong.”
“The Child Marriage Restraint Act has been toothless,” Suneel Malik, a Pakistani human rights activist, told ICC. “The legal age of marriage for girls is set at 16. However, this is not effectively enforced by the courts in Pakistan. Judges continue to declare marriages of minors valid on the pretext of puberty under an Islamic interpretation of law.”
According to a 2014 study by The Movement for Solidarity and Peace Pakistan, around 1000 Hindu and Christian women and girls are abducted, forcibly married to their captor and converted to Islam every year. The religion card is used in cases of sexual assault to place religious minority victims at a disadvantage. Due to prevailing religious bias, criminals know how to use religion to get away from such acts.