Arrest warrant against Pak cleric for solemnising minor Christian girl's marriage

The girl's marriage with the boy was allegedly solemnised by cleric Mufti Ahmed Jan Raheemi. Police had booked five suspects, including two women, in the case after the victim lodged a complaint against the suspects — under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013..

A Pakistani court has issued bailable arrest warrant against a cleric who allegedly solemnised the marriage of a minor Christian girl with a Muslim boy after she was abducted and converted to Islam. Although cases of forcible conversion of minority girls are reported regularly in the rural areas of the Southern Sindh province, they happen rarely in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and economic hub.

Judicial Magistrate Ali Channa on Friday noted that the "nikah was solemnised without her consent under pressure, coercion and influence." The incident took place in Ittehad Town in 2019 on the outskirts of Karachi when the 13-year old Christian girl was allegedly kidnapped by the boy, Imran, and his relatives. The girl's marriage with the boy was allegedly solemnised by cleric Mufti Ahmed Jan Raheemi.

Police had booked five suspects, including two women, in the case after the victim lodged a complaint against the suspects — under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013.