A Pakistani court in Shahdadpur, Sindh, has ordered two Hindu families to deposit personal surety bonds worth Pakistani Rs 1 crore (Rs. 10 million) each, simply to regain custody of their own minor children who were reportedly abducted at gunpoint and forcibly converted to Islam.
The bizarre and disturbing judgment, delivered on June 20, 2025, states that the bond is necessary to ensure that the children, 15-year-old Dashina Bai and 13-year-old Harjeet Kumar (also known as Hani) are not influenced to revert to their original religion after returning home. The court further instructed that the minors must be allowed to continue practicing Islam “freely and without pressure.”
The Abduction
On June 18, when parents of the children filed an FIR accusing Farhan Khaskheli, a local teacher, and his accomplices, Zulfiqar Khaskheli, Irfan Khaskheli, and Majeed Khaskheli of abducting their children at gunpoint from a computer centre in Shahdadpur. The parents said they tried to intervene but were threatened, and the accused fled in a white GLI car.
Just a day later, a second FIR was lodged after two more girls, Jiya Bai (23) and Diya Bai (19), were reported missing. The parents named the same men as responsible.
The abductions immediately sparked public outrage in Shahdadpur. Hundreds of people, including members of the Hindu Panchayat, participated in protests and demanded the immediate recovery of the missing children. As the issue gained traction on social media, pressure mounted on the police and authorities to act.
The children found in Karachi and claim conversion
In a dramatic twist, all four children surfaced at the Gosha-e-Aafiat Trust, a religious centre in Karachi, days after their disappearance. Videos circulated online showing the children clad in Islamic clothing, claiming to have embraced Islam voluntarily. The footage, widely shared and criticised, showed Dashina and Hani dressed in Islamic attire, while Jiya and Diya recited verses affirming their new faith.
Reacting to these videos, the children’s mothers broke down during a press conference.
“They are minors. My daughter doesn’t even understand what she’s saying,” said Dashina’s mother, wiping tears. “We just want our children back.”
The court hearing
On June 20, the four children were brought to the Shahdadpur court under heavy security, surrounded by more than 200 police personnel. The scene was tense. The minor children appeared in full Islamic attire; Dashina and Diya in abayas, and Harjeet with his face covered.
The court proceedings were brief but consequential. While Jiya and Diya, both above 18, told the judge they had willingly converted and wished to stay at Gosha-e-Aafiat Trust, the minors, Dashina and Harjeet, also claimed voluntary conversion.
Despite this, the court ruled that as minors, they should be returned to their parents. However, it imposed shocking conditions: each parent must deposit Rs. 10 million to assure the court that they won’t force their children to revert to Hinduism. The court also instructed that the children should be allowed to continue practising Islam.
In an even more controversial move, the court ordered the release of Farhan Khaskheli, the main accused named in the FIRs.
Hindu panchayat: “How is this justice?”
Speaking to The Rise News, Vindo Kumar, president of the Hindu Panchayat Shahdadpur, lashed out at the verdict. “This is injustice. Our children were kidnapped, forcefully converted, and now the court tells us to pay to get them back and never talk about our religion again,” he said.
He added, “The same man who disclosed the children’s location, Farhan Khaskheli, is being let off without a proper investigation. Isn’t that suspicious? How is it possible that he is not involved?”
Vindo also revealed that the Panchayat had requested a delay in the children’s statement recording. “We believed the kids were under pressure. But the court did not listen. They were allowed to meet their parents only briefly, surrounded by security. In such an intimidating environment, how can a child speak freely?”
He called the bond demand discriminatory. “They are minors. They don’t know what has happened. How can they live under court-imposed religious restrictions in their own homes?”
“Even one child back is a relief”: A Mother’s grief
Speaking to local media, the mother of Dashina and Jiya said, “I would have been happy if both daughters came back. But even if one child is home, it gives me strength to fight on.”
For the families, the legal battle is far from over. They fear surveillance, threats, and continued coercion of their children, even within the safety of their homes.
The abduction of 13-year-old Najo Kohli
The Shahdadpur incident echoes an eerily similar case that took place earlier this year. On February 6, 2025, Najo Kohli, a 13-year-old Hindu girl from Sindh, was abducted from her home during the night.
Her father, Asan Kohli, described the traumatic experience: “Four men barged in with guns. They told us not to move or they would shoot. They took Najo and disappeared.”
The next day, the family was informed by local police that Najo had “converted to Islam” and married a man named Lalo. When Kohli tried to file an FIR, he was turned away. “They told me, ‘Your daughter is now Muslim and married. You have no case,’” he recalled.
Despite presenting Najo’s birth certificate and school records, which clearly showed she was only 13, police refused to intervene.
It was only after intense public pressure that a case was registered on March 19, 2025, over a month after the abduction. The FIR was filed under the Child Restraint Act, and four men were named as accused.
However, only one of the accused has been arrested, and Najo remains missing to this day.
“I don’t know if she’s alive. I don’t know what they’ve done to her,” said Kohli. “She was my eldest child, my pride. All I want is her back. She is just a child, how can this be justice?”
Fake documents, real consequences
Documents shared by The Rise News show that Najo’s conversion certificate falsely lists her age as 18 and her religion as Christian, both blatant inaccuracies.
“She has never been Christian, and she is not 18. This is a forgery,” said Kohli. “And the system supports it.”
A systemic problem
Human rights groups and Hindu advocacy organisations say the Shahdadpur and Kohli cases are just the tip of the iceberg.
“These are not isolated incidents,” said Ramesh Malani, a Hindu rights activist based in Karachi. “There is a well-organised network targeting Hindu girls. They are abducted, raped, forcibly converted, and married off—all with the connivance of local religious groups and police.”
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, over 1,000 girls from Hindu and Christian minorities are forcibly converted each year, particularly in Sindh.
“In 90 per cent of cases, the girls are minors. Yet the courts often accept coerced statements, fake age certificates, and refuse to see the larger picture,” Malani added.
A pattern of Impunity
Many of these abductions are facilitated by religious charities, like the Gosha-e-Aafiat Trust, where the Shahdadpur children were located. These organisations are rarely scrutinised by the state, allowing them to operate with near-total impunity.
“Why is it always the Hindu community that has to prove innocence, pay bonds, and beg for justice?” asked Vindo Kumar. “Where is the state’s protection for minorities?”
The road ahead
For families like those of Dashina, Harjeet, and Najo, the path to justice remains agonisingly slow.
“The courts have given us our children with handcuffs,” said Dashina’s father. “We have to pay for what was already ours and swear not to talk about our own faith in our own homes.”
As Pakistan faces global scrutiny, the Hindu minority continues to struggle for basic human rights, fighting to raise their children in peace, without fear of guns, kidnappers, or courts that treat faith like a currency.
