“Bring my son home.” These words cut through the silence of a Christian mother’s grief in Sheikhupura, Pakistan. Her 15-year-old son, Sagar Masih, remains torn from her arms amid allegations that adults pressured and forced him to convert to Islam while he worked at a factory.
Sagar’s family says Muslim adults at the factory subjected the teenager to relentless religious pressure. They allege the adults forced him to perform Islamic prayers five times a day before his reported conversion. When relatives approached police, officers reportedly told them Sagar was now Muslim and that they must pursue the matter through the courts. The family further claims that Sagar indicated at the police station that he wanted to return home, but adults subsequently pressured him to remain separated from them.
Christian advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill raised a haunting question: “Can a minor truly exercise freedom of religion if adults allegedly subject him to pressure and influence in a workplace environment?” The answer, for Sagar’s family, remains out of reach.
Sagar’s case lays bare the economic and social vulnerability that many Christians in Pakistan face. Large numbers work in low-paid jobs such as brick kilns and factories, where Christian groups say workers face discrimination, exploitation, and attempts to make them abandon their faith. Pakistan ranks eighth on the 2026 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. Open Doors reports that Christians in Pakistan confront challenges ranging from everyday discrimination to threats of deadly violence, while the country’s blasphemy laws have been used to intimidate religious minorities.
For Sagar’s family, the issue is painfully simple. They want their son safe, protected from pressure, and the law to establish the truth. A credible investigation must ensure equal protection for every citizen. For one Christian mother in Sheikhupura, the plea remains unmistakable: Bring my son home.