Lahore (4 October 2022): The patterns of abuse committed against minority girls in the name of religion ought to end, and the government must criminalize forced faith conversions through protective legislation, including safeguards against child marriages, and violations of the age verification process, and regulation of faith conversions. This was emphasized by the human rights defenders with a shared standpoint that religious minorities must not be coerced or exploited in vulnerable situations to change their beliefs.
Saba Nadeem D/O Nadeem Masih is a 15 years old girl who belongs to a poor Christian family consisting of eight persons. She was abducted by a Muslim neighbor, Yasir Hussain from Faisalabad City on 20 May 2022, and was raped, forcibly converted, and forcibly married to the captor. However, she reunited with her family several days after her abduction, and the police arrested the main perpetrator.
On 6 June 2022, Saba appeared before the Magistrate, Faisalabad and got her statement recorded under section 164 of CR.P.C stating that “She was abducted from Faisalabad city and taken to Gujrat city (206 kilometers away from her home), where she had been raped for several days”.
On 30 September 2022, the Additional District and Session Judge, Faisalabad disposed of the application filed by Yasir Hussain for post-arrest bail, on the ground that Saba is a minor girl, and her marriage is illegal according to Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929.
On 30 September 2022, Saba filed a petition for dissolution of marriage against Yasir Hussain in the Family Court, Faisalabad, wherein she stated that “She is a minor girl, and she was abducted and raped. The perpetrator took her thumb impression on the certificates of marriage and conversion against her free will and consent, and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed the assault to anyone.”
In a statement, a human rights defender, Lala Robin Daniel said that the case of Saba Naseem is an example of resistance against injustice wherein a minor girl has taken a firm stand to exercise her right to access to justice, and to bring the perpetrators to justice, despite her family faces threats to life. He appreciated the positive and active role of the police that added section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code against the perpetrator, along with 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code in the FIR, and made the recovery of the minor girl, Saba Nadeem possible from the captivity of the perpetrators.
The chairperson of Voice for Justice, Joseph Jansen said that the public bodies, particularly the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) are in a mode of denial, and are among the leading forces behind opposition to the law against forced faith conversions. These two bodies are deliberately trying to expand their roles to keep a watch on the policy developments concerning minorities and to resist the bills regarding the protection of minority rights. He added that the incidents of forced conversion require an empathetic view of the state rather than a defensive approach currently adopted by the government.
A Roman Catholic Priest, Father Pascal Paloos OP said that the perpetrators manipulate legal procedures by attempting to influence investigation procedures and judicial proceedings due to a lack of application of the legal provisions prohibiting child and forced marriages. He observed that regrettably, the honorable courts’ issue verdicts mostly in favor of the perpetrators, relying on the reasoning inspired by religious injunctions, instead they must interpret the constitutional provisions, laws of the land, and progressive jurisprudence dealing with child marriages, and forced conversions to ensure the right to equal protection, the right to be treated fairly under the law, and the delivery of justice.
A women’s rights activist, Nadia Stephen said that the cases involving allegations of faith conversions must be investigated and prosecuted under sections Section 364A (Abducting a person under 14 years), Sections 375 and 376 (Prohibition of Rape), 498-B (Prohibition of forced marriage), 493-A (Cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and Sections 4 and 5 of the Child Marriage Restraint Act (Prohibition of child marriage). Overseas Pakistani Christians have also expressed their concern over the continued kidnapping and forced conversion and forced marriages of Pakistani Christian girls in Pakistan, and demanded the enforcement of the law (Child Marriage Restraint Act. )
