Muslim Who Raped Christian Girl Receives Life Sentence

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A judge on Wednesday (July 9) handed a life sentence to a Muslim found guilty of abducting and raping a Christian girl but ignored accusations of forcible conversion and fraudulent marriage, the victim’s attorney said.

Toba Tek Singh District Additional Sessions Judge Jamshed Mubarik sentenced Ahmed Raza to life imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 Pakistani Rupees ($351 USD) under Section 376(iii) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a 50,000 Pakistani Rupees ($176 USD) fine under Section 364-A for abducting and raping a girl who was 12 years and four months at the time in September 2023, Christian attorney Hanif Hameed said.

Both the sentences shall run concurrently, according to the court order.

The judge also ordered Raza to pay a 50,000 Pakistani Rupees ($176 USD) to her for mental anguish and physiological damage, he added.

Raza and three accomplices kidnapped the girl, whose identity is withheld as a rape victim, at gunpoint as she returned from her uncle’s house on Sept. 29, 2023, Hameed said.

“They took the child to an unknown location where the convict and three others tortured and gang-raped her multiple times during her month-long captivity,” he told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The perpetrators also forcibly converted the minor and fabricated a fake Islamic marriage certificate dated Sept. 27, 2023, to cover up their heinous crime.”

Police recovered her in a raid on Oct. 29, 2023 and arrested Raza, though the other suspects escaped and have evaded arrest to date, Hameed said.

After her recovery, the attorney initiated criminal proceedings and also filed a suit in family court against Raza to annul the fake marriage. The family court issued a decree in her favor on July 23, 2024, declaring the marriage void, Hameed said.

“The court order also mentioned that the child was a victim of forced conversion,” he said.

Though the trial court delivered a stiff sentence to Raza, the attorney said the judge also should have considered the crime of forging a fake marriage certificate.

“No record of the alleged marriage was found in the union council concerned,” Hameed said. “Moreover, the marriage registrar also told the court that his signature and thumbprints were concocted on the certificate.”

Hameed submitted an application seeking inclusion of sections related to fraud, but the judge ignored it, he said.

“Moreover, in her statement recorded under Section 164, the child had categorically said that she was gang-raped by four persons and even nominated their names, after which the investigating officer had invoked Section 375-A relating to gang rape,” he said. “However, the judge rejected the gang-rape charge and only convicted Raza under Section 376(iii) despite our arguments that the superior courts in numerous judgments had declared that the statement of the victim was sufficient even if there was no other evidence present.”

The lawyer also expressed dismay that the judge ignored the crime of forced conversion in his verdict.

“I had submitted as evidence the order of the family court judge, Naveed Anjum, in which he had stated that the victim was Christian by birth and she had been forcibly converted and subjected to fake marriage,” Hameed said. “However, it seems the judge was not inclined to give a ruling on this crucial matter.”

Despite the lapses, the verdict was a significant achievement in the struggle for protecting children from sexual exploitation, forced religious conversion and sham marriages, he said.

“I would also like to acknowledge the victim’s father, Razzaq Masih, for remaining steadfast in his pursuit for justice for his child,” Hameed said. “Many Christian families usually tend to avoid criminal proceedings against the accused due to poverty, fear of reprisal and social stigma, etc. The outcome of this case should encourage people not to remain silent to such heinous crimes.”

The Center for Social Justice in its Annual Human Rights Observer report in April revealed that at least 421 cases of forced religious conversion and forced marriages were reported between January 2021 and December 2024 in Pakistan. The victims included 282 Hindu girls, 137 Christian girls and two Sikh girls; 71 percent of the victims were minors, of whom 22 percent were under the age of 14, and 49 percent were between the ages of 14 and 18. Only 13 percent of victims were adults, and the age of 16 percent remained unverified.

The report added that the overwhelming majority of cases, 69 percent, occurred in Sindh Province, followed by 30 percent in Punjab Province.

In its concluding observations on the second periodic review of Pakistan’s human rights record, the U.N. Human Rights Committee in November 2024 called for immediate measures to protect women and girls, particularly religious minorities, from forced conversion to Islam and from forced marriage.

“[The committee] is concerned about reports of the persistent practice of abducting girls who belong to religious minorities and forcing them to marry – regardless of their age and the prevailing law – and convert to Islam under the threat of violence, which results in rape, trafficking and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence against these girls,” it stated.

It urged that Pakistan “must raise the minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls to 18 years throughout the country without exceptions.”

It also emphasized intensifying efforts to eradicate forced conversions and forced marriages, including strengthening its legal framework and enforcement mechanisms.

Pakistan, whose population is more than 96 percent Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.

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