RAHIM YAR KHAN/SUKKUR: Three former Hindu sisters of Sadiqabad, who had embraced Islam at Dargah Bharchundi Sharif in Daharki a day before, complained of threats to their lives from their family after their conversion and appealed to the government to provide them shelter and protection.

The sisters, who were students of F.Sc at Sadiqabad College, insisted in their video messages uploaded on social media and in their statement before media persons in Daharki that they had converted of their own free will but their father claimed they had been kidnapped and forcibly converted.

The father, Lehla Ram, who ran a general store in the town, stated in an FIR (384/23) lodged under section 375-B of Pakistan Penal Code at Sadiqabad police station on July 22 that his daughters Permaish Kumari, 21, Roshna Kumari, 19, and Chandi Kumari, 17, went to the college on July 20 to appear in practical exams but did not return.

When he went to the college to look for them, Kaberiya Ram and Santosh Kumar, his relatives, told him that they saw the girls getting into a white car and believed they must be going home with their relatives. The unidentified men had kidnapped his daughters to subject them to rape, he alleged in the FIR.

Ram told Dawn that his daughters had been forced to convert to Islam at the Dargah. A Hindu son of his sister-in-law had also converted to Islam at the Dargah and married one of his daughters a couple of days back while his daughters had informed Sukkur court about their freewill consent to the conversion, he admitted.

The sisters, who gave their Muslim names as Dua Aiman Fatma (former Permaish Kumari), Jannatul Firdous (Roshna Kumari) and Haya Fatima (Chandi Kumari), said in the recorded video massages that they had left their house of their own free will and embraced Islam at the hand of Javed Ahmed Qadri at the Dargah.

They said that they had studied Islamic Studies during their education, which had had deep impact on their thoughts and they finally decided to convert. But now they were facing constant threats to their lives from their family and needed protection, they said.

Sisters seek court protection

At the Dargah the day before, the sisters reiterated before local media persons that they had converted to Islam after deep study of the religion and constant reflection stretched over several years since they attained mental maturity.

They said that they had also filed a petition in Sukkur sessions court on July 27 to seek protection against their parents who had turned their enemies after their conversion.“We have appeared in the court twice and also met our parents four times but we’ve refused to go back with them,” they said.

They said that their parents had filed a fabricated case against them, accusing them of stealing jewelry although they knew full well they had left home empty handed.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2023