Seven people suspected of involvement in the alleged kidnapping, underage marriages and forced conversion of two Hindu girls have been taken into police custody in Ghotki.
The suspects in custody include a Nikah Khwan (marriage officiator), said to be a leader of the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek who arranged the forced marriages, as well as relatives of the two men who had married the girls.
The girls, aged 13 and 15, were abducted from Ghotki and Sindh police conducted raids in the same area.
The raids came after two videos went viral on social media. One video showed the father and brother of the girls revealing that the sisters had been abducted and forced to convert to Islam. A second video emerged, showing the sisters along with the two men they had been forced to marry.
The video also featured a cleric claiming that the girls accepted their conversion to Islam willingly and were motivated to convert by their own religious beliefs.
The cleric attacked the family of the girls for spreading “false propaganda” and threatening their lives. The Manghwal community leader, Shiv Lal said: “The conversions and marriages will be challenged in the court because both girls are less than 18 years of age”. On March 20, the girls’ family lodged a First Information Report against their alleged forced conversion to Islam.
Deputy Commissioner Saleemullah Odho and Police Superintendent Farrukh Lanjhar paid a visit to the girls’ father on Sunday night, offering their full support and assuring the family that they would have the full cooperation of the government and police. SP Lanjhar said that action was being taken on all available information to recover the girls.
