Islamabad [Pakistan]: A 13-year-old girl belonging to the Hindu community in Pakistan’s Sindh province has reportedly been abducted last week while she was returning from the market.
According to reports, the victim’s family alleges that the police have refused to file an FIR in the case.
Earlier, another Hindu married woman was also abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and is being allegedly held captive by one Muslim family in the province.
Pakistan’s dilemma of forced conversions and marriages put minority women at risk and the issue of securing rights for minority women has become particularly complex in the country.
As Pakistan moves in an increasingly conservative Islamist direction, the situation for Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities, especially that of women, is worsening, reported International Forum for Right and Security (IFFRAS).
The situation faced by the Hindu and Christian groups in Pakistan is bad in general, but women from these communities are the worst victims of discriminatory attitudes of the authorities, political groups, religious parties, the feudal structure and the Muslim majority.
Religious minority women and girls are abducted, forcibly converted, forcibly married and abused, and their families are unsuccessful in their attempts to challenge these crimes using legal avenues, reported IFFRAS.
While the abductions, forced conversions, forced marriages and abuse are perpetrated by individuals, the fate of religious minority women and girls is often sealed as the existing laws or handling of such cases deem any legal recourse unavailable or ineffective.
Human rights groups have documented the plight of Pakistan’s religious minorities for years, but it is only recently that these minorities have become the focus of popular discourse because of revelations on social media regarding their treatment, reported IFFRAS.
On the evening of August 20 in the Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, Dina Kaur, a teacher belonging to the Sikh community, was forcibly abducted and converted to Islam. Despite massive protests by the Sikh community in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over the incident, local police have failed to initiate any investigation into the abduction and forcible conversion of Dina Kaur.
The plight of women in Pakistan is increasing day by day as a fresh report has stated that nearly 6,754 women and girls were abducted in the country’s Punjab province in the first half of 2021. Out of that, 1,890 women were raped, 3,721 were tortured and 752 girls were raped, Duniya News reported. (ANI)
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