Pakistan: Forced kidnappings are an endemic problem in Sindh

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Updated: June 10, 2023 9:03 PM IS

Islamabad (Pakistan), June 10 (ANI): Forced kidnappings of girls up to twelve years old have become a regular issue in Pakistan‘s Sindh, as they have been trafficked to places far from their homes and forced to marry men who are often twice their age, Dailytimes reported.
Religious leaders and local law enforcement are often involved in crime and rarely show interest in helping victims. Authorities frequently ignore reports of kidnapping and forced marriage, giving criminals the freedom to do as they please.
According to Dailytimes, the Pakistan The government has not passed any legislation to address the problem despite repeated requests from human rights organizations inside and outside the United States. Pakistan to put an end to forced kidnappings, as well as conversions.
The Daily Times is a leading English newspaper in Pakistan. It is published simultaneously in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.

The kidnapping and forced conversion of Hindu girls continue unabated in Pakistan. A resident of Malhi village in Sindh’s Tharparkar district, Ishwar Bheel, said his 20-year-old daughter Guddi Bheel was abducted by Tando Adam Naukot’s Sikhander Bajeer of Mirpur-Khason on March 8 as she was returning from the hospital where she had gone. . pick up fever medicine for her brother.
She said that she had been pressured to embrace Islam and forced to sign and submit an affidavit addressed to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mirpur Khas, alleging that she converted to Islam of her own free will and was not pressured. or forced to do so.
Recently, a 14-year-old Hindu girl was abducted in PakistanQazi Ahmad’s and forced to marry a man, who was much older than her, and the kidnapper does not face any legal consequences, Dailytimes reported.
Fearing reprisals from religious fundamentalists, successive Pakistanand the administrations have refrained from classifying forced conversions as a crime.
A parliamentary committee dropped a bill to criminalize the practice in October 2021, citing “an unfavorable environment,” though it was fairly clear the bill was dropped due to pressure from the nation’s extremist political groups, the Dailytimes reported. . (ME TOO)