Pakistani Hindu minor girl pleads to return home after forced marriage, conversion

Karachi, Oct 10 (PTI) A 15-year-old Hindu girl, who was allegedly abducted, raped and forcibly married after being converted to Islam, has pleaded before a court in Pakistan’s Sindh province to be allowed to return to her family.

The teenage girl on Thursday appeared before a sessions court in Mirpurkhas district and told the judge that she had been kidnapped, converted and married to an elderly Muslim man against her will.

The court directed the authorities concerned to keep the girl in a safe house until a final ruling is made.

The girl's mother, Nirmal Meghwar, told the media that her daughter was abducted from outside their home last month, and the family faced threats and violence while trying to prove her age in court.

“We had to provide documentation to the court to prove that she is 15 years old. The abductors attacked us outside the court during the previous hearing, but today she finally gathered the courage to tell the truth before the judge,” she said.

Shiva Kachhi, a social welfare worker representing the Hindu community in Sindh, said it was the fourth such case of abduction and forced conversion reported from the area in the past month.

“We are working on all four cases, but in this case, the girl finally got a chance to speak the truth because during the last hearing, her family was attacked by members of the Shar tribe, who are behind her abduction. We intervened to protect them,” he said.

Kachhi said forced conversions and marriages of underage Hindu girls, particularly from poor families, remained a persistent problem in Sindh, often carried out with the backing of influential individuals.

"After presenting evidence, the court has now ordered the arrest of the Qazi who performed the Nikah and the two witnesses. The main accused is still absconding," he said.

Rights groups such as the Aurat Foundation and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimate that around 1,000 girls from minority communities, mostly Hindus and Christians, are abducted and forcibly converted in Sindh every year. Many cases go unreported as the families belong to the marginalised Dalit community. PTI CORR SCY SCY