In yet another instance of the brutal persecution of Hindus in Pakistan, a minor Hindu girl was abducted and raped by a 60-year-old Muslim man.
The victim has been identified as 12-year old Rekha, daughter of Roopo Kolhi of Khipro, Sanghar in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Her abductor is allegedly Muhammad Hanif Bozdar, a 60-year old who is already married and has three children.
According to reports, Rekha has already been forcefully been converted to Islam and has married her abductor. Rekha, born in 2009, was studying in class 6 before her abduction.
Pakistani human rights activist Rahat Austin, who is currently on a self-imposed exile in South Korea, points out that the rape of non-Muslim women is “considered a religious obligation” in Pakistan’s society and is carried out with impunity, with no fear of punishment and backlash.
Rape of Non-Muslim women is considered a religious obligation & dealt with Impunity in Pakistan.
12-year-old Hindu Girl Rekha d/o Roopo Kolhi of Khipro, Sanghar, Sindh is abducted for rape & conversion to Islam by a 60-year-old Muslim man who is already married & have 3 children pic.twitter.com/0fjymtREuR— Rahat Austin (@johnaustin47) April 23, 2021
The abduction, rape, forced conversion and marriage of minor Hindu girls is a frequent occurrence in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Reports show that on average, three non-Muslim girls are abducted in the country everyday. Only a tiny fraction of such cases even get reported. As victims’ families are typically poor and exploited, they often lack the wherewithal and the resources to file a police complaint in Pakistan’s deeply feudal and fanatical society.
In the odd instance when the police and authorities do acknowledge the crime, a set template follows: girls are quickly whisked away to Islamic seminaries like the Sufi Bharchundi dargah run by the notorious Mian Mithoo or to Punjab province (where age of marriage is 16); the terrified girl is made to sign conversion and marriage papers and a court affidavit stating she is acting of her own will; sometimes courts may send the girl to a shelter home, but even there she is not allowed to meet her family and is threatened with dire consequences for herself and her family by abductors; on the day of recording her statement in front of the judge, she is accompanied by gun-toting militias while her parents are kept away.
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