Pakistan court refuses to return abducted Christian daughter to her parents

The Lahore High Court building in Pakistan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

On July 15, 2026, a court in Pakistan refused to return an 18-year-old Christian woman to her parents after she had been abducted and converted to Islam, reports LifeSiteNews.

The young woman was abducted on March 24 from the garment workshop where she worked. Her parents reported her missing and later petitioned the court to allow their daughter to return home.

At the hearing, the family saw the young woman for the first time in more than two months. She was dressed in Muslim clothing and accompanied by a Muslim woman and several religious figures. Her mother and sister were not allowed to speak with her.

The court rejected the parents’ request to have their daughter returned. The family may appeal the ruling, but the outcome of any further proceedings remains uncertain.

Human rights advocates say that girls from Christian and Hindu families in Pakistan are regularly abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men. According to BBC data from 2021, around 1,000 girls from religious minorities fall victim to such crimes every year.

As the UOJ previously reported, a Pakistani court ruled that the marriage of an abducted 13-year-old Christian girl was legal.

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