At a court in Besançon, France, four people of Romanian origin were sentenced on September 23 for trying to abduct a teenage girl from her family. The individuals convicted include the girl's father, mother, brother, and aunt. They received prison terms ranging from six months to two years and are now banned from contacting the victims and from living in Besançon for three years. The case centers on the girl's romantic relationship with a man of Macedonian origin, which her family strongly disapproved of. The teenager had been placed under the protection of child welfare services after enduring physical and emotional abuse from her parents. Her parents rejected her relationship with the Macedonian man, and the girl suffered several forms of mistreatment. Her mother, in particular, subjected her to humiliating practices, including checking her virginity in front of other family members and shaving her hair after learning of her sexual relationship with her boyfriend. During the trial, the mother claimed her actions were motivated by concern for her daughter and stated, "within our community, sexual relations outside of marriage are not allowed. It is our culture." She also argued that a relationship between someone of Romanian and Macedonian origin was not possible. In February 2025, when the girl was 17, she was living in a foster home, and her family was legally prevented from contacting her. Despite this, they visited the family of her Macedonian boyfriend. The visit led to threats and insults, and masked individuals—whose identities were not determined during the investigation—forcibly took the teenager into a car to return her to Romania. The vehicle was stopped at the border between France and Germany shortly after the incident. The girl described her fear of being taken to Romania and living in isolation. Her lawyer, Céline Party, expressed relief at the family's conviction, saying, "justice has passed and my client was heard regarding everything she could report." Yacine Hakkar, the lawyer for the girl's mother, acknowledged the severity of the sentence but said it was appropriate for the case and advised his client not to appeal.