A Hindu woman in Karachi along with her six children, including teenage daughters, converted to Islam on the same day her husband reported them missing.
According to the husband, Ramji Meghwar, his wife Radha, 36; daughters Mira, 16, Pira, 15, and Piya, 14; and sons Amar, 10, Jay Ram, 7, and Gopal, 4, went missing on May 7.
He filed a First Information Report (FIR) the same day, saying that he found his family missing when he returned home from work at 4:30pm, reported Aaj News.
Seven days later, Meghawar had received a copy of the conversion certificate of his family issued by Jamia Binoria Aalamia, a well-known seminary in Karachi, saying that his wife and children converted to Islam “of their free will” on May 7.
The whereabouts of the woman and her children are still not known.
The forced conversion of underage Hindu girls to Islam in Sindh is a severe issue. Human rights groups have continuously urged the government authorities to introduce laws regarding forced conversations.
Earlier, the United Nations had also urged Pakistan to curtail the practice of forced marriages of young girls from religious minorities to Muslim men. The United Nations had also called on Pakistani authorities to adopt and implement legislation in this regard.
In a statement, the UN had “expressed alarm” that young girls from religious minorities are kidnapped, trafficked, forcibly converted to Islam, and forced to marry men. The statement called on Pakistani authorities to curb this practice and uphold international human rights law.
