Pakistan (Commonwealth Union)_ For years, the abduction and forced conversion of young Hindu girls in Pakistan has been a grave issue, persisting despite protests and calls for action. In March 2023 alone, several cases have been reported, indicating that the problem still continues. According to Ishwar Bheel, a resident of Malhi village in Sindh’s Tharparkar district, on March 8, his 20-year-old daughter Guddi Bheel was abducted by Sikhander Bajeer of Tando Adam Naukot in Mirpur-Khason. The girl was returning home from the hospital, where she had gone to get fever medication for her brother.
Bheel explained that his daughter had been coerced to convert to Islam and was compelled to sign a sworn affidavit addressed to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Mirpur Khas, claiming that she embraced Islam of her own free will and was not under any compulsion. Veero Kolhia, a resident of Talho Malho village in Umerkot, reported another incident where his Hindu minor daughter was abducted and the police refused to file a case. He stated that his daughter was kidnapped by the influential people in the village, who had offered her soft drinks mixed with intoxicants. However, despite repeated pleas, the police refused to file a missing person report.
Additionally, three other cases of abduction and forced conversion of minor Hindu girls were also reported in March 2023. Accordingly, 14-year-old Meena Butt was kidnapped near her house in Mavomehhwar, Mirpurkhas, and was forced to embrace Islam before marrying her kidnapper, Abdur, at Barchundi Sharif Dargah (Gotki). Similarly, 16-year-old Sangita Kumari from Karachi was married to her kidnapper after being coerced into converting to Islam at Karachi’s Sufi Darbar. Further, according to Dasram Bheel, his 13-year-old daughter Krishna Bheel was kidnapped while returning home from school in Mirpurkhas, but the police refused to register a missing person report, claiming that she had eloped with her boyfriend.
On Monday, over 100 social activists from various districts in Pakistan’s Sindh and Punjab provinces gathered in Karachi to protest against the abduction and forced conversion of minor girls from minority communities, particularly Hindu communities. The event was titled “Aurat,” and it was attended by several activists who spoke about the abuses faced by women and the government’s indifference towards such incidents.
The speakers highlighted that police authorities often refuse to file FIRs in abduction cases, but medical and legal authorities illegally declare underage girls as adults, making them eligible for marriage. Birma Jeswani, an activist based in Karachi, emphasized that cases of abducting minors, declaring them adults, and then forcing them to convert to Islam have been occurring rampantly in Sindh for more than a decade. Hence, she urged the government to put an immediate end to such incidents.
