![\"Zarvia](\"https:\/\/christiannews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Zarvia-Masih-was-12-when-kidnapped-and-forced-to-marry-her-Muslim-abductor-in-2022.-Morning-Star-News.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nZarvia Masih was 12 when kidnapped and forced to marry her Muslim abductor in 2022. (Morning Star News)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
LAHORE<\/strong>, Pakistan<\/strong>\u00a0(Christian Daily International<\/a>\u2013<\/em>Morning Star News<\/a>) \u2013 The Lahore High Court\u2019s recent directive to strictly enforce anti-child marriage laws has raised hope among Pakistan\u2019s Christians of some protection against their underage girls being forced to convert to Islam and wed their kidnappers, sources said.<\/p>\n In a landmark interim order issued by Justice Anwar Ul Haq Pannun of the Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court on Feb. 28, the court ordered the government to implement the anti-child marriage laws in letter and spirit. The court was hearing a petition filed by a Muslim woman, Ramzana Bibi, seeking the custody of a niece who had fallen victim to child marriage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The court established a high-level committee headed by Prosecutor General of Punjab Syed Farhad Ali Shah to ensure effective implementation of child marriage restraint laws. It also ordered chairmen of union councils to promptly annul any underage marriages, with the court mandating strict legal actions against such unions.<\/p>\n Pannun\u2019s order also instructed the assistant director of local government to conduct monthly reviews of union council records at the local tehsil<\/em> level, emphasizing the critical role of local government in the complex challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThis order marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing battle against underage marriages in Pakistan, especially those belonging to Christian and Hindu communities,\u201d Christian attorney Sumera Shafique told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. \u201cIt not only strengthens the legal framework but also signals a broader shift towards more vigilant and proactive measures in protecting the rights and well-being of young girls across the province.\u201d<\/p>\n Shafique has won freedom for several Christian girls forcibly converted to Islam and married to those who kidnapped them.<\/p>\n The attorney said that, in the absence of laws against forcible conversion, strict enforcement of anti-child marriage laws could be a strong deterrent against abductions and conversions of minority girls.<\/p>\n \u201cThough advocacy efforts are being made for criminalizing forced conversions, I believe that laws against child marriage can also be helpful in curbing religious conversion of underage minority girls,\u201d she said. \u201cThe superior courts must also ensure that the subordinate courts follow these directions and evaluate cases involving religious conversion and marriage of minor girls under the anti-child marriage laws, instead of invoking the sharia<\/em> [Islamic law] laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Referring to a recent decision by Lahore High Court Justice Aalia Neelum in a bail petition, Shafique said the judge criticized the defendant\u2019s lawyer and police officials when she learned that a 12-year-old Christian girl had been forcibly converted and married to a Muslim man five times her age.<\/p>\n \u201cThe judge rejected the accused\u2019s bail and ordered to start his trial which, I believe, is a very encouraging thing. If high court judges deal with such matters empathetically, the attitude of the trial courts will also gradually improve,\u201d Shafique said.<\/p>\n Church of Pakistan President Bishop Azad Marshall welcomed the Lahore High Court\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have repeatedly called for strictly enforcing the anti-child marriage laws to curb abductions and forced conversions of our young girls,\u201d Marshall told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. \u201cWe hope that government officials will follow the court\u2019s directives to ensure that existing underage marriages are not only annulled, but future attempts to register such marriages are also penalized.\u201d<\/p>\n Marshall also called for criminalizing forced conversions, emphasizing that the recent amendment to the Christian Marriage Act, wherein the minimum age for marriage of Christians was fixed at 18 years, would pave the way for more legislation for protection of girls.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also hope that the new parliament will passes our draft bill on Christian personal laws, under which a Christian marriage cannot be annulled automatically in case either of the two partners changed their faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to a U.N. report issued in 2020, Pakistan has the sixth highest number of girls married before the age of 18 in the world.<\/p>\n Child marriage is prevalent in Pakistan is due to deeply entrenched traditions and customs, poverty, lack of awareness and\/or access to education and lack of security, among other reasons, the report noted.<\/p>\n Health and human rights-based angles are frequently used to advocate for ending child marriage, but often neglected is that early marriage also negatively impacts a country\u2019s economic growth and development. Child marriage will cost developing countries trillions of dollars by 2030, according to a study by the World Bank in 2017.<\/p>\n Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors\u2019 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.<\/p>\n If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/morningstarnews.org\/resources\/aid-agencies\/<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/morningstarnews.org\/donate\/<\/em><\/a>?<\/em><\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n \u00a9 2024 Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Articles\/photos may be reprinted with credit to Morning Star News. <\/em>https:\/\/morningstarnews.org<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Tweet:\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/twitter.com\/morningstarnewz\/<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Facebook:\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MorningStarNews<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Morning Star News is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that relies solely on contributions to offer original news reports of persecuted Christians. By providing reliable news on the suffering church, Morning Star News\u2019 mission is to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone. For free subscription, contact\u00a0<\/em>editor@morningstarnews.org<\/em><\/a>;\u00a0to make tax-deductible donations, visit\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/morningstarnews.org\/donate\/<\/em><\/a>? or send check to Morning Star News, 728 A Kodiak St., Eielson AFB, AK 99702, USA.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Christians Fearing Forced Marriages in Pakistan Find Hope<\/a> appeared first on Morningstar News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n