Human Rights Group Condemns Forced Conversions in Pakistan

Advocacy group cites cases involving underage Christian girls and alleges police inaction and systemic failures.

By UCA News

A rights group in Pakistan has expressed serious concern over rising cases of abduction, forced conversion and marriage of girls from minority groups, including Christians, in the Muslim-majority country.

In a press statement issued on March 27, Human Rights Focus Pakistan highlighted a “troubling pattern of abuse primarily targeting specifically underage Christian girls.”

This targeting is often accompanied by “intimidation and pressure on families that hinder legal proceedings,” the rights group said while citing data from its helpline and fact-finding missions.

Naveed Walter, president of the rights group, emphasized that these incidents constitute “clear violations of Pakistani law.”

The group cited three cases where Christian girls were abducted, forcibly converted and forcibly married.

In August 2025, a coworker abducted, forcibly converted, and married a girl in Faisalabad. The perpetrators allegedly forced the girl’s family out of their home and unlawfully occupied their property.

In the second case, a 15-year-old Christian girl from the same city was abducted from her home in 2026.

The police officers allegedly refused to file a case and delayed the process for 21 days. A case was filed only after the rights group intervened.

The third case also involves a 15-year-old Christian girl from the same locality who was subjected to an alleged forced conversion, the rights group said.

Allegations of falsified ages on documents

The official documents related to the girl were allegedly manipulated to show her age as 18 to legitimize the marriage.

A case has not been filed by the police due to the alleged influence exerted by the perpetrators, the rights group claimed.

“These acts are also inconsistent with Pakistan’s international human rights commitments,” Walter said.

The rights group said that Pakistan, as a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, is obligated to uphold its provisions, along with the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.

The rights group also reiterated concern over the systemic nature of these violations and the frequent lack of timely legal response.

It urged enforcement agencies, judicial authorities, and policymakers “to ensure the prompt registration of FIRs, conduct impartial investigations, and strictly enforce existing laws to safeguard vulnerable communities.”

Hindus form Pakistan’s largest religious minority, accounting for 1.61 percent (3.86 million) of the 240 million population, followed by Christians at 1.37 percent (3.28 million), according to 2023 government data.

Muslims make up 96.35 percent of the country’s total population, while Sikhs, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians account for less than one percent.

Unofficial estimates suggest as many as 1,000 girls from religious minorities are abducted, forcibly converted and married annually. A majority of these victims are minors, often as young as 10 years old.

Featured image: A Pakistani Christian woman prays during a Good Friday service at St. Anthony Church in Lahore. (CNS/Mohsin Raza, Reuters)