A 13-year-old Hindu girl went missing from her home in the Karachi city of Pakistan. After almost a month, the police recovered the girl following protests by the Hindu community.
It was revealed that the girl was converted to Islam by the kidnappers overnight. She has been sent to a shelter home for now.
A letter to the Chief Minister of Sindh was also written in regard to the recovery of the minor.
On 24 December, a girl identified as Urmila Maheshwari was allegedly abducted by a man named Arshad Mohammed along with an accomplice. The First Information Report (number—394/2022) in this case was registered in the Kemari district in Karachi.
The minor was abducted from the Shershah area of the city. Her nickname is ‘Sonu’.
The girl was finally recovered and presented before the court on 4 January 2023 by the police. From the court, the girl was sent to a ‘Dar-ul-Aman’ (shelter home).
Before the recovery of the minor girl, the family staged several protests across the city, prominently around the Press Club area. Various Twitter users shared the details of the protests through their official Twitter handles.
Clips from one such protest:
During the protests, various social organizations and community organizations working for the Hindus in Pakistan supported the family.
An activist, Kishan Lal Maheswari, while interacting with the local media, said, “A 13-year-old girl has been abducted forcefully. When we reached the police station with our volunteers, the officials said that the girl is 20 years old and had undergone a ‘Nikah’ by will. This is injustice. We are Sindhi and need help in recovering the girl safely. She is a mere 13-year-old girl who does not know how to light a stove. How can she be allowed to change her religion?”
A woman social activist in the protest said, “We have been witnessing this for a long time now that Hindus living in Pakistan are being tortured. Due to this, many families are forced to leave the land. I want to repeat this – Hindus are being systematically driven off from Pakistan. The perpetrators are targeting our daughters for this. No law in the world allows a 13-year-old to choose her religion and husband. hHow can Pakistan allow this?”
Watch the video here:
After all these protests, the girl was finally recovered. After her statement in court, a video of her lawyer was shared on the internet.
The lawyer, Dilip Kumar Latani, on camera said that at the office of the judicial magistrate—9 in west Karachi, Urmila was presented before the court. She was there to record her statement under section 164 of the CrPC. Shocking revelations were made in her statement. The minor did not know the meaning of ‘Kalma’ nor does she have any knowledge about Islam, the lawyer said.
He said that despite that, the minor said she had accepted Islam (on 4 January).
She told the court she is 20 years old whereas her documents say she is a minor. After considering all the documents the court sent her to a shelter home. The court also directed the Investigating Officer to conduct a bone test to ascertain her age. The lawyers also presented the certificate of ‘Nadra’ (an age proof common in Pakistan), the lawyer said.
Watch the video statement here:
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