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A teenage Hindu girl who was recently abducted from a village in Thar has been forced to convert to Islam and reportedly made to enter a marriage, her family and relatives claimed on Thursday.
The family of the 14-year-old girl told reporters at Islamkot press club that the girl was abducted a few days ago after three armed men barged into their home and held the family hostage.
Hero Meghwar, the said girl's father, revealed that he contacted local people of influence but was told that the girl had converted and married a certain Naseer Lunjo, hence there is little that could be done.
The family members alleged that local police, too, was not interested in recovering the girl. They demanded that the girl should be recovered and produced before a court if she has indeed converted.
But SSP Thar Ameer Saud Magsi maintained that a first information report (FIR) has been registered under Sections 365 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, while raids are being conducted to arrest the three suspects nominated in the FIR.
The SSP revealed that according to a letter he received from elders of the person accused of converting the girl, the girl had converted to Islam at the hand of a pir (spiritual leader) in Umerkot district.
Magsi said not only has the police received a certificate of conversion, a copy of which is available with Dawn, issued by the pir, but also the now-married couple has filed an application in the Sindh High Court, seeking protection. He said the court has fixed the application for hearing on January 17 next year.
The conversion certificate, however, leaves open the mystery of how a 14-year-old from a distant Thar village made it as far as Samaro.
Taking notice of the matter, Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khawaja has directed deputy inspector general Mirpurkhas to immediately submit a report regarding steps taken by the police and details of the inquiry into the case.
With additional reporting by Imtiaz Ali in Karachi.
Comments (32) Closed
Shame on this lawless society.
Yet another time. Why is world silent on religious repression in Pakistan.
Such practices must be checked at the outset and if there is truth in them, these must be stopped and the perpetrators of such crimes must be punished forthwith.
Just because a stupid certificate was produced, police is unable to do anything? A girl is abducted and the police thinks it is conversion out of free will, especially when the girl is only 14?????
I am quite skeptical about such actions! Why are these actions only happening in the rural areas, why such conversions and marriages are not taking place in the cities? There must be something being hidden by the practitioners!
Abduction and holding hostages is crime and law enforcers cannot ignore them. Find the culprits and punish them.
This is just a tip of the iceberg. Thanks Dawn for reporting it.
We are wrapped in such ignorance because we don't read our book. it's a book of enlightenment and not suppression.
That’s sad but isolated cases
Haven’t we suffered enough because of religious bigotry and intolerance. Society should make every effort to reverse this and hand out most strict punishment for things like this. It is a matter of our survival to curb religious nuts.
Sick people!
So sad.
Never ending.
How can a 14 year old make any sound decisions? It is ridiculous indeed. Please return her to her parents and award exemplary punishment to culprits
A14 year old girl cannot convert by her own choice. This is certainly a case of forced conversion. But as usual nothing will happen and everyone will forget about it after few days.
Shame on the worst state of affair
Feel sad for minorities in Pakistan.
It's shame. The world is sleeping.
@ASHUTOSH, I belong to one of the similar societies of Sindh, & let me clear your myth that we see such cases as aberrations not norms. Forced conversion is seen as a social crime in our society. Media is to highlight such problems alone. Viewers should themselves take the other aspect of the story for granted.
Shameful. Strict action must be taken
Sincere question, can 14 year old be legally married in pakistan ?
Thank you Dawn for exposing these evils to the wider world.
A Weak State = Non-existent judicial and educational systems = Religious thugs on the loose = Innocent minorities suffer. Meanwhile, the denial, delusion and deflection continues.
It should be checked properly then decide who is wrong or right
Outrageous!
Weak laws
Feel sorry for the unfortunate non-muslims stayed back in Pakistan. I hope the government of Pakistan ensures the safety of whatever is still there. They believed in Jinnah's words and stayed in Pakistan after partition not know what to follow after Jinah is no longer at the hem. The coming of Zia-ul-Haque was the last nail....
@Juned Ali For crying out loud, wouldn't you feel differently if these "Isolated cases" were happening to someone near and dear to you?
Religious minorities will keep suffering; their plight will never come to an end and their situation will never be addressed in an unjust system.
Shame
No wonder the minorities feel unsafe and have been reduced from 22 percent during partition to a mere 2 percent.
Thanks to Dawn for bringing this to limelight.
Shame on Pakistan govt and police for not protecting Hindus Christians or even Muslims. Shame on law inforcement agencies.