7/28/2025 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) — In a breakthrough with Pakistan’s legal system, a court denied custody of a Catholic girl to a Muslim man who had kidnapped her and forced her to convert to Islam and marry him, ruling that she could not be with him as a minor even if she was willing.  

Elishba Adnan, 14, reportedly converted to Islam and married Babar Mukhtar of her own will. Later, Adnan’s family’s lawyer reported that Mukhtar had committed statutory rape. 

“In her statement recorded under her alleged Islamic name ‘Fatima Bibi,’ Elishba claimed that she had married Mukhtar on June 12 and wanted to live with him,” rights activist Albert Patras said. “However, the magistrate took note of her birth certificate presented by her parents, which showed that she was a minor; therefore, her alleged marriage to a man twice her age was illegal under Punjab’s anti-child marriage laws.”  

Adnan had gone missing on June 11, and police took their time processing the case for 11 days, even when her father visited the police station several times.  

In Pakistan, many underage girls are coerced into converting to Islam and subjected to rape under the guise of Islamic “marriages.” These victims are then pressured to provide false statements supporting their kidnappers. Courts frequently disregard documented evidence of the girls’ ages, returning them to their abductors as their wives.  

When the court denied custody to Mukhtar, Adnan refused to go with her parents. By the court’s decision, she was sent to a women’s shelter that even restricted her parents from contacting her without the court’s permission.  

Adnan’s father spoke about her refusal to come home,  

“Mukhtar has either brainwashed or intimidated my child, due to which she was adamant to go with him.” Adnan’s father said. “We did not get a chance to speak to her in private to ascertain the actual reason for her refusal, but I’m sure she’ll reveal the truth when she’s not under Mukhtar’s influence or threats.”  

While the court did not punish Mukhtar, the decision is a turning point for Pakistan as it will hopefully bring in more court cases which uphold human rights and bring a final stop to forced marriages and conversions.  

“Such courageous judgments are rare in our country, where religious sentiments run high, compounding barriers to justice for the vulnerable communities, particularly Christians,” Christian attorney Lazar Allah Rakha said.  

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