Nadia Nadeem and her husband Nadeem Masih are appealing for the return of their kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter Amber Nadeem, who was abducted, converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man and is in police custody while legal proceedings are ongoing.

Amber was abducted on 12 June in Faisalabad, Punjab province, by a Muslim man while she was on her way to a local market. Her parents Nadia and Nadeem, a daily wage labourer, spent three days trying to persuade police to register a First Information Report, which gave the suspect time to produce documents claiming that Amber had converted to Islam and married him.

Police eventually located Amber, placed her in protective custody and arrested her alleged abductor.

Joseph Janssen, chair of advocacy group Voice for Justice, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, “The family lives in extreme poverty, and police ignored their repeated pleas to recover their daughter for more than a fortnight. After we intervened, the accused was arrested and Amber was placed in protective custody with the Faisalabad Police’s Gender-Based Violence Unit while the legal proceedings continued.”

On 27 June a hearing was held regarding Amber’s custody and the legality of her alleged conversion and marriage. Her parents and legal team met her at Gulberg police station in Faisalabad before proceeding to the sessions court, and the suspect’s brother also arrived – with a court bailiff to take Amber to the court, where he had filed a custody application.

At the sessions court the suspect’s family presented documents claiming that Amber had converted to Islam and married a man named Mohsin Liaqat. The documents included a marriage certificate stating her age as 18. Malik Mehmood Hussain Awan, lawyer for Amber’s family, challenged the authenticity of the documents and presented church records confirming Amber’s age as 13. He later told media that the documents submitted by the suspect’s family appeared to be forged.

The defence also relied on the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026, which was recently enacted to protect minors from abuse including child marriage. However, the presiding judge stated that although marriages involving minors cannot be registered, they may still be solemnised. The family’s legal team raised a strong objection, arguing that the law prohibits child marriage per se – not only its registration, but also its solemnisation.

Lawyers for the alleged abductor argued forcefully that Amber had converted to Islam and therefore could not return to her Christian parents as that would constitute apostasy. The legal team representing Amber’s family strongly objected, arguing that such claims should not take precedence over Pakistani laws protecting minors and that the issue before the court was not religion but whether a 13-year-old child has the legal capacity to consent to conversion, marriage or a transfer of custody.

Special judicial magistrate records Amber’s statement

After hearing preliminary arguments, the sessions court referred the matter to a special judicial magistrate to record Amber’s statement and conduct further questioning.

Amber’s mother was questioned first and testified before the magistrate that she married in 2012 and gave birth to Amber, her first child, in 2013.

The magistrate then asked Amber about her age, and she initially replied “old enough to get married”. When asked to state her year of birth she said 2008, but when asked how she could have been born in 2008 if her parents married in 2012, she disclosed that members of the alleged abductor’s family had told her to say she was born in 2008. The magistrate ordered that she remain in protective custody and ordered a medical examination to determine her age.

Parents plead for Amber’s return; mother hospitalised

Amber’s parents repeatedly pleaded before the court for the return of their daughter, reportedly suffering such overwhelming distress that her mother became ill after the hearing and had to be hospitalised.

In a video shared with Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, Nadia appealed for help, saying, “Our lives have been shattered since our child was taken from us. We repeatedly sought help from the police, but no one listened. We appeal to everyone to help bring our daughter home safely.”

Joseph Janssen commented, “This case will test whether Pakistan’s child protection and anti-child marriage laws are enforced in practice. The central question is whether vulnerable minor girls, particularly from religious minority communities, will receive the protection guaranteed under the law… We are calling for a transparent legal process, full protection for Amber, accountability for anyone found responsible for criminal conduct, and strict enforcement of laws intended to protect children from exploitation and abuse.”

Read the Church in Chains Topic Abduction, forced conversion and marriage in Pakistan.

(Asia News, Christian Daily International–Morning Star News, Voice for Justice)

Photo: Screenshot from video, via Morning Star News