Pakistan court hands Christian girl back to parents

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A Pakistan court Wednesday handed a teenage Christian girl back to her parents after she was allegedly abducted, converted and married a Muslim man, local media reported.

Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh of Lahore High Court announced the decision after the 14-year-old who had been renamed Ayesha told the court she wanted to live with her parents, according to Dawn News.

The girl whose real name was not disclosed presumably for security concerns, had been abducted and sold to the man by her own relatives, the prosecution said.

Javed Masih, the girl’s father, told reporters outside the court his daughter was kidnapped by “influential members” of the Christian community from northeastern Faisalabad and sold a Muslim man who later married her.

The man confined her to a house but she managed to flee and reached her parents’ home a few days ago, he added.

Pakistan’s Christian and Hindu minorities often complain for forced conversions -- a phenomenon reported from southern Sindh and northeastern Punjab provinces. However, according to local media, the motive behind a good number of such cases is love marriages.

Islamabad High Court last month handed two Hindu girls to government custody until the disposal of the case after their parents accused their Muslim husbands of kidnapping and forcing them to convert.

The girls told the court they converted and married to the men on their free will.