On the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of minor girls in Pakistan

Sebastiao Bugalho, Tomislav Sokol, Wouter Beke, Jan Farsky, Lukasz Kohut, Ondrej Kolar, Andrey Kovatchev, Ingeborg ter Laak, Miriam Lexmann, Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, Reinhold Lopatka, Eleonora Meleti, Danuse Nerudova, Miroslawa Nykiel, Ana Pedro, Nicolas Pascual de la Parte, Jessica Polfjärd, Davor Ivo Stier, Tomas Tobe, Matej Tonin, Inese Vaidere, Lorant Vincze, Michal Wawrykiewicz, Isabel Wiseler-Lima, Marta Wislo, Tomas Zdechovsky, Zeljana Zovko, Lukas Mandl

B100350/2026

European Parliament resolution on the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of minor girls in Pakistan

(2026/2801(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,​

whereas on 29 July 2025 Maria Shahbaz was abducted in Lahore, forced to convert to Islam and consequently forced to marry her captor; whereas despite her family producing a birth certificate showing Maria to be 14-years-old , the Lahore High Court overruled an earlier decision by the Faisalabad Sessions and District court to place her in a women’s shelter, subsequently forcing her to return to her captor; whereas Maria managed to escape from the home of her captor and she and her family are currently in hiding;

whereas Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world;

whereas each year in Pakistan, roughly 1,000 young girls, many of whom are Christians, are kidnapped from their homes, many of whom are later forcibly converted to Islam and married against their will;

whereas courts have repeatedly rejected cases where the girls’ parents tried to annul the marriage and free them from their suffering, among others by producing evidence that the girls were underage; whereas the courts often granted custody of the girls back to the man, continuing the plight of the girls and effectively cutting of ties with the girls’ family;

whereas in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, legal decisions are often based on differences between civil law and Islamic law, which does not stipulate a fixed minimum age for marriage and permits it upon reaching puberty;

whereas Pakistani laws against child marriage criminalise the act and provide penalties for those who marry a minor, but whereas those laws do not affect the legal validity of marriages involving minors; whereas these laws lack enforcement;

Calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure the effective protection of Christian communities and other religious minorities, in particular girls at risk of abduction, forced Islamisation and forced marriage, through effective prevention measures, prompt investigations, and access to justice;

Calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure the immediate protection of Maria Shahbaz and to conduct a thorough, transparent, and impartial review of her case, with full respect for due process and the best interests of the child;

Calls on the Pakistani government to ensure the immediate and safe return of the abducted girls to their families of origin and to prosecute to the fullest extent those who use forced conversion as a cover for the crime of abduction;

Calls on Pakistan to establish a national mechanism to investigate complaints concerning abducted or forcibly converted minors from religious minority communities;

Calls on the European Commission and the EEAS to systematically raise the protection of religious minorities, forced conversions, and child marriages in all bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, including under the GSP+ monitoring framework;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of Pakistan, and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.​