GHOTKI: Local police have arrested the attendees and a suspected facilitator of the alleged abduction, forceful conversion to Islam, and marriage of two minor Hindu girls.
On Sunday night, Ghotki deputy commissioner and Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Farrukh Lanjhar visited their families. He said that some people, including the nikkah khwan and attendees, have been arrested based on initial reports.
More investigation based upon information is underway, he said.
According to police, a case for kidnapping had been registered in Daharki Police Station, however, the girls appeared for their marriage on March 22 and claimed to have converted to Islam and tied the knot “of their own will”.
On Thursday, Ghotki’s SSP informed Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Kaleem Iman that the two girls — Reena, aged 14, and Raveena, aged 16 — have ’embraced Islam’.
However, the girls’ father and brother, in videos circulating on social media, say that the two sisters were abducted and forced to convert to Islam. In contrast, a separate video of the minor girls is also making rounds on social media, in which they say that they accepted Islam of their own free will.
The issue was also raised by human rights activist Jibran Nasir among others. Sharing a video on Twitter, he said one of the sisters is aged 14 and the other 16 and raised questions over their underage marriage, their first act, right after conversion.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had also taken notice of the “abduction and forced conversion” of two Hindu girls and ordered the Punjab and Sindh government to probe the reports of “abduction and forced conversion” of the girls, who were shifted to Rahim Yar Khan from Ghotki.
On Sunday, the girls approached a court in Bahawalpur seeking protection.
from Pakistan Today
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