Christian parents demand return of teenage son forcibly converted to Islam
In Pakistan’s Punjab province, the Christian parents of 15-year-old Sagar Masih are appealing for his return, saying he was pressured into converting to Islam at a factory job. A rights group says the case is one of a growing number of similar reports involving underage Christian boys in that country.
Sagar’s parents believe factory co-workers pressured him to leave his Christian faith, adopt Muslim prayer practices and convert to Islam, sometimes offering him rewards. That’s according to a statement released by the United Kingdom-based Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS-UK), a Christian advocacy group.
“We are deeply concerned for Sagar’s safety and welfare. He is only 15 years old and must first and foremost be treated as a child in need of protection," said CLAAS-UK Director Nasir Saeed. “Freedom of religion is a fundamental right, but religious freedom must genuinely be free. There can be no place for coercion, threats, inducements or exploitation of a child’s poverty and vulnerability."
The family said Sagar came from a low-income Christian household and had taken the factory job to help support it. The family alleges the factory recorded Sagar’s name as "Sagar Muhammad," even though his legal name is Sagar Masih.
“We only want our child. We want our son returned to us and kept safe. We do not want anything else," the boy's father, Babar, told CLAAS-UK.
The family claims Sagar was required to pray in the Islamic style five times a day before converting, according to Worthy News.
Family members said they spent several days looking for Sagar before they found video footage of him with religious clerics and others. They then went to police, seeking his return and an explanation of the alleged conversion.
Police reportedly told the family Sagar had already become Muslim and that any recourse would go through the courts.
Sagar’s father said police gave the family contradictory details about the timing and process for his son’s return.
Family members allege Sagar told officers he wished to go back with them but was later pressured to stay away from relatives.
Officials eventually indicated a court would need to decide the matter, according to reports.
“We are particularly concerned about the growing number of cases involving underage Christian boys allegedly being converted to Islam," Saeed said. "The issue of forced conversion is often associated with Christian girls, but boys can also be extremely vulnerable, particularly when poverty forces them into employment at a young age and places them under the influence of adults outside their families.”
Saeed urged authorities to confirm Sagar’s true age, look into whether he faced improper pressure and interview him somewhere safe, impartial and free of interested parties.
CLAAS-UK's demands include an independent inquiry, confirmation of Sagar’s age and how the alleged conversion came about, safeguards for the teenager and court proceedings that put his welfare and best interests first.
Open Doors, a Christian advocacy group that ranks 50 countries each year by the severity of persecution Christians face, placed Pakistan eighth on its 2026 World Watch List.
Pakistani Christians face problems ranging from routine bias to the risk of lethal attacks, and blasphemy statutes have reportedly been used against Christians and other minority faiths, the group says.
Many Pakistani Christians hold poorly paid jobs, including at brick kilns and factories, where workers have reportedly faced discrimination, exploitation and pressure to give up their faith.
