In Pakistan. Shifa Rafaqat, a 14-year-old girl from Sheikhupura, was taken from her home in November 2023. Shifa was taken by a neighbour, Najma Liaquat, who was later converted to Islam and married to 48-year-old Syed Shabbar Ali Gillani.
Disturbingly, when her father went to sought help to recover his daughter, a police officer said, “Your daughter will never return to you, Inshallah (if Allah wills)”.
During the court proceedings, Shifa’s abductor presented a conversion and marriage certificate falsifying that Shifa was 18 years old, despite her government-issued birth certificate indicating that she was only 14 years old. Even the cleric who solemnised the marriage denied officiating the marriage, indicating that the document was fabricated.
However, authorities have been denied to investigate the matter.
In another case, Monika, an 18-year-old Hindu Girl from Larkana Sindh was kidnapped from her house. Kidnappers entered the house with arms and picked the girl.
Furthermore, Meena Lohar, a 7th-grade Hindu girl from Digri city, has been forcibly married to a Muslim youth, Asif Kanhabar, following her abduction and coerced conversion to Islam. Despite multiple complaints lodged with local authorities, there has been a conspicuous lack of investigation or action from law enforcement.
Joseph Jansen, Chairperson of Voice for Justice, has said that around 25% of cases start as abduction cases, where girls between 11-15 years old are being abducted, converted to Islam, and married. If they are required to testify in court, they are subjected to heavy intimidation and threats, pressuring them to side with their abductors.
These girls are physically and sexually abused by one or multiple men, some are forced into prostitution while others are sold as sex slaves within Pakistan or abroad.
These cases are distressing examples of how young girls are treated in Pakistan. It is nothing but “slow-motion ethnic cleansing.”
While Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws are weaponized to target minorities and to settle personal scores the severity of the charges has contributed to an environment where religious minorities face persecution with no protection from anyone.