Pakistan: Minor Hindu girl kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married by abductor

On June 13, a disturbing incident surfaced from the Karachi region of Pakistan involving the abduction of a minor Hindu girl and her forced marriage to a Muslim youth. The 16-year-old victim was taken by force by Muslim individual named Sameer Ali, son of Gul Hassan, hailing from Shahdabkot town in Pakistan, and was subsequently compelled to convert to Islam.

According to documents shared on social media by Faraz Pervaiz, a Pakistani Christian activist renowned for exposing cases of religious persecution against minorities, the girl named Sangeetha was subjected to forced conversion to Islam and subsequently married off to the Muslim youth who abducted her.

Following her conversion, the Hindu girl was assigned the new name Hameeda. Despite being 16 years old, the accused Muslim forged her documents to falsely portray her as 19 years old. In the affidavit submitted prior to the forced marriage, the accused claimed that the girl was an adult and that she willingly married him.

According to Pervaiz, the accused compelled the girl to sign an affidavit falsely stating that she was 19 years old and that she was marrying Sameer Ali willingly out of love, respecting her free will.

“I have not been abducted by anyone to perform this marriage and I am giving this affidavit in my full senses without any force, pressure, or undue influence that I am going to solemnize my marriage with Sameer Ali with my personal decision without any force by anyone,” the affidavit further read.

Earlier on June 2 in Pakistan’s Sindh province, another 14-year-old Hindu girl named Sohana Sharma Kumari was kidnapped from her home at gunpoint by her tutor and others. Her father filed a police report, but later, she appeared in a video claiming to have converted to Islam and married a Muslim man, though her parents insisted she was underage. After much outcry on social media, the police found her five days later. Sohana told the judge at the district court in Larkana that she was abducted and forced to convert, expressing her desire to return to her parents. However, on June 12, the court decided against sending her with her parents.