A Catholic bishop in Pakistan has warned of an increase in young Christian and Hindu girls being kidnapped, then forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors.

“There have been many kidnappings recently,” Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore told papal charity Aid to the Church in Need.

“The girls are usually 14, 15. The men often already have one wife. They can be 25 or older. They can also be younger, more like 20,” he added.

The archbishop said he believes the kidnappings sometimes include a religious motivation, since the victims are typically Christian or Hindu. However, he also said that the perpetrators are driven by lust.

According to Aid to the Church in Need, research in Pakistan indicates that up to 700 girls were kidnapped in one year alone.

Shaw said Church leaders had reported the abductions to the police, who were unresponsive. They then contacted government officials, who were more receptive to their concerns.

“Along with the Islamic council, they arranged a meeting with myself and leaders from the Muslim and Hindu communities,” the archbishop said. During that meeting, “[o]ne young Islamic scholar criticized the kidnappings and said forced conversions are not allowed.”

Shaw stressed the importance of enforcing laws against kidnapping in order to end the growing surge of abductions.

“Kidnapping is a crime. It has to be treated as one,” he told Aid to the Church in Need. In August, Catholic and other religious leaders signed a joint resolution asking the Pakistani government to adopt safeguards protecting religious minorities, a move that they said is much needed in the 97% Muslim nation.