In recent weeks, a series of troubling incidents involving the abduction, conversion, and marriage of minority girls have come to light in different regions of Pakistan, raising concerns and sparking conversations over the long persisting religious persecution.
In Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, a 13-year-old Christian girl, Tabeeta, daughter of Razzak Masih, was reportedly abducted at gunpoint while returning from her uncle’s home. The suspects in this case were identified as Ahmed Raza, Sajida, Shani, and Sabir. Now it is highly anticipated that she would be converted and married off to one of her abductor, as this has been a modus operandi against the innocent minority girls.
Similarly, in Mirpurkhas, Sindh, a Hindu girl named Omi Bheel was abducted by an Islamist named Hassan Shar. He coerced her to convert to Islam, and finally married her. In another incident in Digri, Mirpurkhas, a minor Hindu girl named Chandani, daughter of Keval Kolhi, was reportedly abducted by Mukhitiyar Khaskheli. She was forcibly converted to Islam and married to her abductor.
The rapid pace at which these incidents are rising in Pakistan highlights the fact that minority girls have become the most vulnerable targets for these radical Islamists. Minority girls and especially the minor ones have been left deprived of any right and voice. They are abducted, married and converted at an age, at which girls don’t even talk about these issues in other parts of the world. Its high time that the degrading condition of minorities in Pakistan is addressed and the rights of these poor girls are being restored and secured.