A Pakistan Court Monday (June 12) allowed the minor Hindu girl Sohana Sharma Kumari to reunite with her parents after she reportedly gave a statement declaring that she wanted to go with her family.
The 14-year-old Sohana Sharma Kumari was abducted on June 2, 2023, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man. Adding to her anguish, despite her appeals, a Pakistani court for all these days refused to allow her to return to her parents.
Twitter user THE SINDHI NARRATIVE took to Twitter on Tuesday, June 12, to share the information.
Suhana's bravery and determination has forced the state to bow down to her.
— THE SINDHI NARRATIVE (@TSNARRATIVES) June 12, 2023
She was released from her abductor's grip and allowed to reunite with her parents.
Unfortunately, no concrete steps taken against the abductors.
Also, don't forget other victims of #ForcedConversions https://t.co/Fr3nGF7guz
Though the Pakistan court allowed Sohana to reunite with her parents it failed to take any concrete steps against her abductors.
Dilip Kumar Sharma, the father of Suhana Sharma, a 14-year-old girl, on Monday, thanked the government, civil society organisations and police for raising the issue of his daughter’s abduction and ensuring her recovery.
He said the Sindh police recovered Sohana by taking immediate action and presented her in a court where the girl recorded her statement and declared that she wanted to go with her family. Following this, her custody was granted to the family.
“I am grateful to all the institutions, including the civil society, media, lawyers community and Sindh police who gave me a lot of support,” the father said.
Pakistani media outlet The News quoted the father of the 14-year-old Sohana Kumari as saying that his daughter was neither married off nor forced to convert to Islam.
Here it may be noted that when the girl was recovered and produced in court, it was her father who had approached the court to get back her custody. Sohana’s father Dilip Kumar, had, in fact, filed a police report alleging that she had been abducted. Later, Sohana appeared in a video clearly stating that she had converted to Islam and married a Muslim man under pressure.
Just see how Sohana Sharma, a minor Hindu girl from Sindh, Pakistan is crying, holding and kissing the hands of her father and saying "papa, papa take me home with you".
— INSIGHT UK (@INSIGHTUK2) June 9, 2023
14 years old Sohana was kidnapped from her home, at gun point. Her father Dileep Kumar approached the court… pic.twitter.com/OKjHD63ZTI
Now, if the Pakistani media is to be believed, the father is himself negating his daughter’s testimony that she was forcefully converted and married off to her Muslim abductor. It is not known whether what the father said was of his own volition or he was coerced, but it is frequently observed that the persecuted Hindus of Pakistan live in continual terror for their life.
Data has revealed that Pakistani Hindus are known to be one the most badly persecuted minority community in the world. According to research, over 14,000 cases of gang rape, kidnapping, and religious conversion of Hindu girls have surfaced in the last 12 years.
According to a report from the Movement for Solidarity and Peace, about 1,000 non-Muslim girls are converted to Islam each year in Pakistan. Every month, an estimated 20 or more Hindu girls are abducted and converted, although exact figures are impossible to gather, said Amarnath Motumal, the vice chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Minor Hindu girl Sohana Sharma Kumari abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man in Pakistan
OpIndia reported on June 10, that a 14-year-old girl named Sohana Sharma Kumari was abducted from her home in the Benazirabad district of Sindh province. She was kidnapped at gunpoint by her tutor and his aides in front of her mother. Sohana’s father Dilip Kumar, filed a police report alleging that she had been abducted. Later, Sohana appeared in a video clearly stating that she had converted to Islam and married a Muslim man under pressure. Her parents, on the other hand, argued that she was a minor.
The incident garnered a lot of condemnation on social media. Several Netizens were outraged and criticised the Pakistan government for turning a blind eye towards the atrocities being committed against the members of the minority community in the country. After much outrage on social media, authorities retrieved the minor Hindu girl from a residence in the district five days after she was abducted.
On Friday, June 9, Sohana was brought to the district court in Larkana, where she told the judge in her statement that she had been abducted and forced to convert to Islam. She also expressed her wish to return to her parents.
The judge, however, adjourned the case until June 12 since she appeared to be under ‘pressure’ when giving her statement and remanded her to a women’s shelter home.
