'Naya' Pakistan: 15-yr-old Hindu girl abducted, converted to Islam in Sindh's Jacobabad

Cases of abduction of non-Muslim girls and forced conversion to Islam remains unabetted in PM Imran Khan's 'Naya' Pakistan. In the recent incident that joins the list, a 15-year-old girl named Mehak Kumari was abducted from her house in Jacobabad in Sindh province on Wednesday. A video from her later revealed that she had converted to Islam and married a Muslim boy named Ali Raza Machi.

"I have converted to Islam on my own free will and my Muslim name now is Aliza. I accepted Islam at Dargah Amrot Sharif and have married Raza there," said Mehak Kumari, now Aliza. The girl, student of class 9, went missing after school on January 15. Since then, her parents have complained that she was kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam.

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Hindu group takes up matter

The All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat (APHP), an organisation that seeks to address issues of Pakistan's minority Hindu community,  said it is working very closely on the case. "Kidnapper Ali Raza Machi is 28 years old. He was married twice earlier. Some time back, he left his first wife. He has four children," an APHP member said. "APHP and Jacobabad Panchayat have mutually decided that no FIR be filed on this case and try to resolve it in a different way," APHP General Secretary Ravi Dawani said in a statement.

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Arrests made, couple untraced

Meanwhile, the Jacobabad police informed that they have arrested Ali Raza's uncle, few cousins and other family members but the couple remains untraced. The police have tied up with APHP Jacobabad chief Lalchand and other panchayat members to look for the couple in Dera Murad Jamali in a bid to arrest those behind the incident. "APHP is very much hopeful about her (Mehak's) recovery in the next 48 to 96 hours," Dawani said.

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Other such incidents

Last year, a Sikh girl was abducted and forcefully converted in Pakistan's Nankana Sahib. Her family had alleged that she was forced to marry a Muslim man after being converted to Islam. In a similar episode, a Pakistani Christian girl, who was identified as Huma Masih, was allegedly abducted and then converted to Islam. Although she later claimed that she eloped with a Muslim man of her own will, her family said it was forced.

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