13 October 2020 Ali Azhar a Muslim man abducting 13-year-old Christian girl Arzoo Masih in Karachi’s St. Anthony’s Parish. Arzoo’s mother, Rita Masih, said she and her husband were at work on when they received a phone call from a relative that Arzoo had gone missing. The family immediately filed a First Information Report (FIR) of kidnapping in the local police station. The crime is punishable by lengthy imprisonment or death in Pakistan.
However, on Oct. 15, the police summoned the family to the station where they were given marriage papers that claimed Arzoo was 18 and had willingly converted to Islam after marrying Ali Azhar, a local Muslim. Raja Lal Masih, Arzoo’s father, said he was “deeply concerned” over his daughter’s safety. He wants authorities to find his daughter and bring her home.
Forced conversion into Islam is extremely rising in Pakistan. Voice for Justice raise voice against forced conversion and forced marriages of minor girls of religious minorities in Pakistan. As our Pakistani young minor Christian and Hindu girls are forcefully converted into Islam and forced to marriage with the Muslim men under the Islamic traditions.
In March this year, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, called on the Sindh provincial government to make the forced conversion of minority girls illegal. Forced conversions “are too easily and too often disguised as voluntary conversions, leaving minor girls especially vulnerable.
“We demand that the government of Pakistan should step forward and suitable laws against forced conversion in Pakistan. Law should be framed against forced conversion of minor girls of religious minorities Child Marriage Restrained Act should be applied Courts should decide rapidly on cases where minors are abducted and forcefully converted and ensure that girls are brought back into the custody of their parents. Conversion certificates by religious leaders or clerics should be banned under the age of 18. Voice for Justice will raise voice for this serious issue and will keep raising voice for those who are brutally victim of forced conversion”.
