June 20, 2025
Two out of the four persons belonging to the Hindu community in Shahdadpur (District Sanghar) who were abducted on Monday, June 18, were recovered on the night of 19 June after the police raided a place called Gosha-e-Aafiat trust Karachi Trust in Karachi. Two of these were sisters Jiya Bai (23) and Diya Bai (20) who were declared as adults by the court and free to make their decisions. They were allowed to go back to the place they had been found in, and safely transported there. Meanwhile Dashina and Harjeet were handed back to their parents.
FIR details
According to details given in the First Information Report (FIR), on 18 June, at around 10 PM, the suspects namely Farhan Khaskheli, Zulfiqar Khaskheli, Irfan Khaskheli, and Majeed Khaskheli, armed with a pistol kidnapped Dashina Bai (15) daughter of Bhagwan Das and Hani Kumar (13) froma coaching centre known as the ZAK School. They were taken away in a white car (GLI).
On 19 June, on the statement of the complainant, it was disclosed that his sisters Jiya Bai (23) and Diya Bai (20) had also been abducted by the same accused persons. On Friday, June 20, the investigation officer produced all the four recovered individuals before the court to record their statements under section 164, Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C).
Statements recorded U/S 164 CrPC
According to the statement recorded in court, Jiya (23) and Diya (20) both, claimed to have embraced Islam and changed their names to Mariam and Khadija respectively. Both the girls have categorically said that they have converted to Islam of their own free-will and consent, and disclosed that they were residing at Gosha-e-Aafiat Trust in Karachi so no one had abducted them. They also showed their willingness to go to Gosha-e-Aafiat Trust Karachi.
The statements of Dashina Bai (17 years, named Sidra after conversion) and of Harjeet (Ganesh) Kumar (14 years, named Abdul Rafay after conversion), were also recorded. In their court statements too, the minors deposed the claim that they had not been forced to accept Islam and they had gone of their own free will to Karachi in a taxi. They claimed that the complainant had lodged a fake FIR. Despite the opportunity of cross examination given to the counsel for the accused, he opted not to cross-examine the abductees, saying that it was of no use as if deposed against the accused persons.
Timely intervention
Meanwhile the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) last night took suo moto notice, prompting the police for the urgent recovery of those kidnapped, particularly the minors.
The letter is addressed to the Senior Superintendent of Police, (SSP), District Sanghar.
“Pakistan’s legal framework strongly protects against forced abduction, underage marriage and religious coercion. PPC Sections 365-B, 364-A, and 506 criminalize abduction for marriage/illicit relations, inducing forced marriages, respectively, with significant penalties. The Sindh Hindu Marriage Act (2016) also requires both parties to be at least 18, prohibiting forced conversions and underage marriages within the Hindu community. Article 20 of the Constitution guarantees religious freedom, rendering forced conversions unconstitutional.
The Sindh Human Rights Commission, by exercising its statutory power under section 4 (i) (ii) of the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act, 2011 request you to investigate the subject matter and submit a report through any wel-conversant officer before the commission on the date of hearing viz 23-06-2025 at 11:00 AM without fail.”
The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is a statutory body established under Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act, 2011 with the mandate to protect and promote human rights in the province of Sindh and recommends remedial action for human rights violations/abuses.
As a response the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), has commended the suo moto action taken by the SHRC. Condemning the crime, HRCP said it had now become common to abduct girls and women to convert them. HRCP said that the ‘continued incidence of forced conversions violates not only victims’ freedom of religion or belief, but also puts their liberty and bodily autonomy at risk. We endorse the required investigation and reiterate our longstanding demand for the Sindh government to legislate against forced conversions’.
The children
On June 19, 2025,reports surfaced online, of four Hindu children — three girls and one boy abducted from Shahdadpur in Sindh’s Sanghar district, and allegedly subjected to forced religious conversion to Islam. The victims are identified as being from the same family.
Activists from the area say that the children were reportedly abducted at gunpoint from their homes. They were later found at a police station in Karachi, specifically in Nazimabad, where authorities claimed they had “willingly converted to Islam.”
Videos circulating showed the children saying that they had changed their faith.
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Jiya (22) and Diya (20) are above the legal age of majority in Pakistan (18), but Disha (16) and Ganesh (13) are minors, raising concerns about coercion and the legality of their conversions under Pakistan’s Child Marriage Restraint Act and Sindh Marriage Restraint Act, which set the minimum marriage age at 18 in Sindh.
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Some X posts suggest discrepancies in identifying the victims, with Vikash mentioned as a possible fifth victim, potentially a brother or cousin. These inconsistencies highlight the chaotic reporting surrounding the incident.
Context and Pattern
This incident is not isolated. Sindh has a history of abductions and forced conversions targeting Hindu and Christian girls, with estimates of 500–1,000 such cases annually. The UN and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned these acts, noting that perpetrators often escape accountability due to societal and judicial biases, with courts sometimes invoking Sharia law over federal law to justify keeping victims with their abductors.
“Even when the four abductees were brought to court they were surrounded by the police and the hardliners who were accused of the abduction,” said Fakir Shiva Kachi, an activist in the area. “These are the same people who kept them for a long time with them, brainwashing them for all this time.” Shiva Kacchi says that cases of forced conversion have increased everywhere in Sindh and were happening on a daily basis.
However he brings forth another point.
“The abducted individuals belonged to the business community, the Dewan-Waniya community in this case – and they were comparatively more well off, and belonged to the upper Hindu class,” he says. “This is why there was so much media and government attention given to the case.”
“On the other hand, take the poorest of the poor communities from the Scheduled Castes who have been suffering the most regarding forced conversions, including the Kolhi, Meghwar and Bheel communities. But no attention is given to them, neither are their cases easily registered.”
Meanwhile government’s minority coordinator, Rajesh Kumar Hardasani told Voicepk that the Hindu community wanted an end to this kind of trend where girls were taken by force, abducted from their homes and workplaces and then not even allowed to meet or see their parents.
“We believe that there should be some kind of regulation regarding conversion of faith,” he says. “We do not believe that our girls would change their faith, but even if they do, let it follow a procedure such as registration, a discussion about it with their parents in private, being able to meet with them even afterwards.”
Hardasani said that the case had been highlighted well, because of the fact that this involved children, and did not involve forced marriage after conversion.
“It was a clear and simple case of child abduction, no marriage involved, and then also we managed to locate them timely,” he said. “There were three girls, one from Jamshoro, one from Karachi and a boy and a girl from Shahdadpur. The adults are in a safe house and the children are back with their parents.”
He said the boy even later made a video saying that his claim to change his religion had been at gun point. He also appealed to the government to form some kind of Bill for Forced Conversion, that protected the Hindu community from abductions.
The recurring nature of these abductions points to deeper systemic issues, including religious discrimination, weak legal enforcement, and societal acceptance of coerced conversions. The claim of “willing” conversions, often backed by dubious documents, raises questions about the integrity of local authorities and judicial processes. The involvement of minors like Disha and Ganesh underscores the urgency of enforcing existing laws, such as the Sindh Marriage Restraint Act, and addressing why such cases disproportionately target Hindu girls. The lack of concrete action from Pakistan’s government, despite international pressure, suggests political sensitivities around religious issues may override minority protections.
