September 16, 2026
By Rashid Laghari
HYDERABAD
In Tando Allahyar, a town about 35 kilometers from Hyderabad, two underage Hindu sisters, Sita Kolhi and Ropi Kolhi, were allegedly abducted, and a claim of marriage was made following their forced religious conversion. According to the family, six men from the Machhi community were responsible for the incident.
On August 27, Sita Kolhi, 14, and her sister Ropi Kolhi, 13, residents of Ashfaq Town, went missing from their home. When their parents began searching for them, they learned that the two girls had been abducted from their house by six men belonging to the Machhi community. Following this, an abduction case was registered at the Tando Allahyar police station on September 4, which included charges under abduction laws as well as provisions of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013.
Police later recovered both sisters and produced them before the Civil Judge Magistrate’s court on September 9. In court, lawyers argued that the girls were not of marriageable age and that they had been lured into forcibly converting their religion, after which a claim of marriage was being made. In their statements, the girls told the court that they wanted to go with their parents, following which the court ordered them moved to a safe house.
The girls’ grandmother, Kaimi Kolhi, also said that Sita and Ropi are not of marriageable age. She said the family was asleep when men from the Machhi community came and abducted the girls, adding that life has become unbearable for the family since then, with the men of the household unable even to go out to earn a living. She appealed to the authorities to recover her granddaughters, saying no one was listening to their plight.
According to Sunny Romani, a social activist from Tando Allahyar, both sisters were abducted jointly by six accused, including Amjad, Mansoor and Janu Machhi. He said the girls are minors, aged 13 and 14. He added that another girl, Pansy Kolhi, has also been abducted and remains missing. He said that in their statement recorded under Section 164, the girls declared their wish to go with their parents and became unconscious in court. He expressed hope that the girls would be handed over to their parents.
Shiva Katchi, chairman of the Pakistan Darawar Ittehad, alleged that the six accused had taken the girls from their home at gunpoint and that forced conversion had followed by illegal, forced marriage.
He said it was regrettable that despite the existence of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013, it was not being enforced, and that marriages of girls under 18 were being conducted. He questioned whether the Nikah Khawanhad failed to notice the girls’ ages. He said people were openly flouting this law.
Advocate Sunil Shatrughan said that over the past nine months, 22 cases of girls’ abduction and forced conversion have come to light in Sindh, while more than 500 underage girls have had their religion forcibly changed this year alone. He questioned how the marriage of underage girls could be legally possible, noting that the Tando Allahyar girls’ birth certificates, which record their ages, exist.
He said that in Punjab, cases of girls’ abduction receive swift action, but in Sindh, affected families are denied justice. He argued that effective enforcement of the child marriage law could prevent incidents of abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriage of underage girls. Sita and Rupi Kolhi currently remain in the safe house and are scheduled to appear again before the Tando Allahyar court on September 19.