Pakistan is facing intensifying international scrutiny over the alleged abduction, forced conversion, and marriage of underage girls from religious minority communities, with the cases of Maria Shehbaz and Aneeqa Ishaq — both Christian minors — drawing attention from the United Nations, the European Parliament, and global rights groups. The two cases, detailed in a report by the European Times, have arrived at a moment when Pakistan's legal system is under the microscope for how it assesses age and consent in alleged forced conversion cases.

The Cases of Maria Shehbaz and Aneeqa Ishaq

Maria Shehbaz, a 13-year-old Christian girl, was allegedly kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam, and married to Shehryar Ahmad, aged 30, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International. A court subsequently granted Ahmad custody of Shehbaz after accepting his claim regarding the marriage — a decision that sparked concern from the international community about how Pakistani courts evaluate the age and consent of minority girls in such cases.

Aneeqa Ishaq, a 16-year-old Christian girl from Lahore, alleged she was kidnapped while travelling to a church, then forced to convert and sign documents stating she had married voluntarily. Ishaq is reportedly pursuing legal action after allegedly spending months in captivity. The European Times report noted that while the two cases differ in detail, 'both centre on the same question: whether a minority girl can exercise genuine freedom of religion and marriage when she is young, allegedly abducted and separated from her family.'

A Wider Pattern Across Pakistan

The two cases are not isolated. In April 2025, United Nations experts stated that women and girls from Pakistan's religious minorities continued to face kidnapping and forced conversion through marriage. According to UN data, approximately 75 per cent of those affected by forced conversion through marriage in 2025 were Hindu, while 25 per cent were Christian.

This comes amid a separate case reported on 19 September, in which Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), a minority rights organisation, raised grave concern over the alleged abduction of two minor Hindu sisters — Roopi and Seeta, aged 13 and 14 — from Ibrahim Colony in Tando Allahyar district of Sindh province. According to VOPM, the family alleged the girls were forcibly converted to Islam and compelled to marry two men, Amjad Solangi and Mansoor Solangi. Authorities reportedly presented the sisters before a court, which sent them to a safe house rather than immediately returning them to their family. A video circulating online purportedly showed the girls saying, 'Let us go to our parents' and 'We want to go home.'

VOPM called for an urgent, independent, and transparent investigation, demanding that officials 'interview Roopi and Seeta in a child-sensitive environment, away from alleged husbands, religious figures, intermediaries or anyone who could pressure them,' and provide the girls with independent legal support and protection.

International Response: European Parliament and the UN

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Pakistan on 9 July, citing the same UN figures on forced conversion. The resolution called for an end to child marriage and the protection of religious minorities in Pakistan. Rights groups have described it as one of the clearest recent international statements on the issue.

Notably, the European Parliament's resolution drew attention to a structural concern that rights organisations have flagged for years: when a minority girl disappears in Pakistan, a subsequent claim that she converted and married of her own free will can, in practice, function as a legal shield for alleged perpetrators. Critics argue this pattern systematically disadvantages minority families seeking justice through Pakistani courts.

What Rights Groups Are Demanding

Rights organisations are pressing Pakistani authorities to establish child-sensitive interview protocols for minor girls in alleged abduction cases, ensure independent legal representation, and remove alleged perpetrators and intermediaries from the vicinity during any court proceedings. The cases of Maria Shehbaz, Aneeqa Ishaq, and the Sindh sisters are expected to remain under international scrutiny as Pakistan navigates growing pressure from multilateral bodies over its treatment of religious minorities.