Noori, a minor Hindu girl was not only kidnapped, raped, forcibly converted to Islam but also married off to Muslim men Muhammad Ayub “Peer Ayubjan Sarhandi” and Luqman Mohib Junejo in separate incidents. This practice of “conversion rape” is being used to entrap and exploit Hindu girls.
In Noori’s case, influential Muslim religious leader Sarhandi has abducted, raped and “converted” her through an illegal marriage in the name of Islam. They are committing rape and prostitution in the name of marriage, which shows that religious minorities are not safe in today’s Pakistan.
Just weeks earlier, 17-year-old Shanti Meghwar escaped her captor Muhammad Nazir Ghulam, courageously testifying in court about her kidnapping, forced conversion, and marriage against her will. Her harrowing account laid bare the “weaponization of conversions” targeting Hindu girls from impoverished backgrounds.
Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws, which can bring the death penalty for insulting Islam, have been used to persecute minorities or settle personal vendettas. Meanwhile, authorities are turning a blind eye or facilitating such crimes against Hindus.
Pakistan’s treatment of its Hindu minority is described as a “slow-motion ethnic cleansing.” There is a lack of legal safeguards, and laws against forced conversion are routinely blocked by religious hardliners.