Kidnapping, rape and forced conversion of another Hindu girl in Pakistan

Noori, a minor Hindu girl, was not only abducted, raped and forcibly converted to Islam, but was also married to Muslim men Muhammad Ayub “Peer Ayubjan Sarhandi” and Luqman Mohib Junejo in two separate incidents. This practice of “conversion rape” is used to trap and exploit Hindu girls.

In Noori’s case, the influential Muslim religious leader Sarhandi kidnapped her, raped her and “converted” her through an illegal marriage in the name of Islam. They commit rape and prostitution in the name of marriage, which shows that religious minorities are not safe in today’s Pakistan.

Only weeks earlier, 17-year-old Shanti Meghwar had escaped her abductor, Muhammad Nazir Ghulam, by bravely testifying in court about her abduction, forced conversion and marriage against her will. Her harrowing account exposed the “weaponization of conversion” that is targeting Hindu girls from poor backgrounds.

Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws, which provide for the death penalty for insulting Islam, are used to persecute minorities or settle personal feuds, while the authorities turn a blind eye to or even encourage such crimes against Hindus.

Pakistan’s treatment of its Hindu minority has been described as “ethnic cleansing in slow motion.” Legal protections are lacking and laws against forced conversions are regularly blocked by religious hardliners.