The Christian boy Muslim employer forced him to turn him into Islam, putting him under illegal custody, the family lawyer said.
In the Sultan town of Salgoda, Punjab, 14-year-old Shamraiz Masi went to the market on July 21 and did not return, lawyer Tahir Neved Chaudhry said. Shawdley said that Shamraiz had started as an apprentice at a motorcycle repair workshop owned by Rana Munier after the death of her father Imran Masi.
After searching for him without success, the Siamese brothers registered the first information report (FIR) of Aidation.
“On the other hand, I informed them that someone had seen Shamraiz and Munir who entered Madina Gaussia Madrassa (Islamic Seminary) in Bugh district,” Chaudhry told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. “When the boys went to the madrasa and asked for their siblings, they were told that the Shamreiz had deliberately converted to Islam and was no longer part of the family.”
A member of the local Presbyterian church, Shamreis belongs to a very poor family, and his widowed mother was forced to send him to work after his father’s death. Chaudhry said that Shamraiz’s brother Sahil Masih first filed an abduction case against an unknown person, but when Munir’s role was revealed, his name was added to the FIR as a major suspect.
The lawyer discovered that the application had been filed on July 22nd in the court of Rana Sohail Rias, Magistrate Section 30 Sargoda, under the name of his brother Muslim, “Muhammad Umar,” and that he was seeking permission to record his statement in the aiding FIR, which his brother Sahi Masi has registered.
“In this application, ‘Umar’ claims he is a 15-year-old ‘adult’ and converted to his free will Islam after being “inspired” by Islamic teaching,” Chaudhry said. “He also claimed that his brother had registered a false adduction case against Rana Munir.
The Magistrate issued a notice to Sahil Masi and investigators on Friday (July 25th). Complying with court orders, the family and their lawyers appeared before the magistrate that day, but Shamrise did not.
“Instead, the police filed a document recorded by Shamraiz in the court of Lahore Special Attorney General Muhammad Kassif Pasha on July 24, repeating the claim of intentional conversion,” Chaudhry said. “After seeing the court documents, Judge Riaz disposed of Shamraiz’s application.”
Shaudhry said those who forced Shamrise to convert to Islam were intentionally recorded in Lahore courts.
“If Shamrise had appeared at the court in Salgoda, he would certainly have revealed the truth after meeting his mother and brother. That’s why they took him to Lahore,” he said. “We’re going to take this issue to the Superior Court now, because Shamreis’ mother is his legal guardian, even if the other side claims he’s converted to Islam.”
It was clear that Munir had forced Shamrise to Islam to keep him in permanent bondage, Chaudhry said.
“There is no other plausible reason for this suspicion of change,” he added.
A lawyer who is a former member of the Punjab Assembly said he reached out to the local Muslim leader and tried to persuade them to recover the boy.
“We told religious leaders that we are not opposed to adults who change their faith, but we cannot remain silent about the forced faith conversion of minor children,” he said. “But there was no positive response from them.”
The issue of conversion of the boy’s forced faith emerged during a session at Punjab Assembly on Friday (July 25th).
“The appeal for the restoration of the boy’s widow mother has caused pain and distress throughout the Christian community,” Christopher said. “What can we do when only a 14-year-old illiterate boy is leaning towards Islam while the other families are still Christians? Such cases bring bad names to the country. The government opposes and forcibly converts minor girls and boys.”
In Pakistan, attempts to force Christian boys and men to convert to Islam are rare. Christian and Hindu girls and young women are frequently accused of and forced to “convert” to Islam before being forced to marry Muslims.
In September, 17-year-old Christian boy Samung Javed worked at a gas store owned by Umar Manzole, a Muslim in Badru Minarra village in Sheikhpura district, Punjab.
Some Muslims believe that a mere reading of Shahda (the Urdu “Kalama,” the declaration of Islam’s faith) is sufficient to translate non-Muslims into Islam. Once a person becomes Muslim, if he or she returns to his original faith, he or she is considered an apostate.
Apostasy can be punished by death, imprisonment or confiscation of property, according to Islamic law, but it is rarely practiced at the state level in modern times. However, some enthusiastic Muslims believe they are doing the right thing by attacking or killing apostates.
Pakistan ranked 8th on the 2025 World Watchlist, where it’s the hardest place to become a Christian.
