Police in Pakistan have detained at least seven people for their alleged involvement in the purported abduction and forced conversion of two Hindu girls to Islam and their underage marriage in Sindh province, Dawn reported on Monday. However, the two girls and the men they were reportedly married to have sought the Islamabad High Court’s protection and refuted the claims that they were forcibly converted.
The girls are believed to be 13 and 15, PTI reported.
On March 24, Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered an investigation into the matter after two videos about the case surfaced on social media. In one video, the father and brother of the girls claimed that they were abducted and forced into converting to Islam. In the other video, the girls claimed they had converted of their own free will.
India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on March 24 asked the Indian envoy in Pakistan for a report on the alleged abduction of the two girls.
The girls’ video also showed a cleric marrying them to two older men. The cleric claimed that the girls were influenced by Islam much before and converted to the religion of their own accord. He alleged that their family was spreading “false propaganda”.
The Nikah Khwan, who officiated the weddings, and relatives of the men who married the girls were among those arrested and handed over to the Sindh police.
On March 24, members of the civil society staged a protest in Karachi against the alleged abduction, forced conversion and marriage of the two girls, Dawn reported.
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