The month March too sees no let up in minor Hindu girls being forcibly converted in Pakistan

The persecution of Hindus in Pakistan has gone on for long. The police have been accused of not filing FIRs and investigating these case.

There seems to be no respite for the Hindus in Pakistan as their abductions, rape and forced conversions continue.

On March 13, over 100 social activists from different districts of Pakistan's Sindh province which houses the majority of the Hindus in Pakistan staged a protest against the kidnapping and forced conversions of minor girls.

In an event titled 'Aurat' organised in Karachi, scores of activists spoke about the atrocities against women and also the apathy shown by the government authorities towards such incidents.

They claimed that while the police refuse to file FIRs in kidnapping cases, medical and legal authorities connive with each other to declare underage girls as major and eligible for marriage.

Ishwar Bheel, a resident of Malhi village in Sindh's Tharparkar district said that his 20-year old daughter Guddi Bheel was kidnapped by Sikander Badger of Tando Adam Naukot of Mirpur-Khason on March 8. She was returning from the hospital where she had gone to collect medicines for her brother, when the incident took place, the father narrated.

He also alleged that she was forced to embrace Islam and sign and submit an affidavit addressed to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mipur Khas. She was forced to claim that she had converted out of her own will and was not under any duress to do so, the Ishwar Bheel further said.

Veero Kolhia, a resident of Talho Malho village of Umerkot said that his minor daughter was abducted by influential people of his village. The police refused to file a complaint after the Hindu minor girl was abducted. He also said that his daughter was forcibly taken away after she was given some soft drinks laced with intoxicants.

In March 2023, three more incidents of forced conversions of Hindu minor girls were reported.

Meena Butt (14) was kidnapped from near her home in Mavomehhwar, Mirpurkhas and married off to her abdductor, Abdus after she had been converted. Sangita Kumari (16) of Karachi was married to her kidnapper after being forced to embrace Islam at Karachi's Sufi Darbar. Krishna Bheel (13) was abducted from Mirpurkhas while returning from school. In all these cases, the police have refused to act. The common reason the parents are given is that the girls may have eloped with them.

Birma Jeswani, a Karachi-based activist said that such incidents of kidnapping minors and declaring them as major have been rampant in Sindh for over a decade. The activist while pointing out that these were victims of forced conversion, called for an immediate end to such incidents.