PAKISTAN: A young Hindu girl is detained and forcibly converted by a Madrassa; police refuse to act

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police and officials are refusing to respond to the abduction of a fifteen-year-old Hindu girl by a neighbour in December last year. Her parents found her captive in a Muslim seminary and were told that she was married and had converted to Islam. The girl was not allowed to leave the Madrassa or speak to her parents alone. The case, according to this information, violates a host of domestic laws, many of them related to the girl’s status as a minor. 

Pakistan is also a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which both oblige the authorities to protect religious minorities under international law. 

CASE DETAILS: 

On 21 December 2009 Gajri, 15, disappeared from the home of her Hindu parents in Katchi Mandi, Liaquatpur, in Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan district. They were told that she had been abducted by a neighbor, who after going missing for several days, returned home alone. 

On 26 December the station head officer (SHO) of the local police station, Saddar Circle Police Station, Liaquatpur sub-district received a letter and an affidavit from a Madrassa that said that Gajri had embraced Islam and had married the neighbour, a Mr. Mohammad Salim. The letter did not enclose a marriage certificate. 

The police did not immediately report the information to Gaijri’s father, Mengha Ram or her mother, although they had tried to file a First Information Report (FIR) after she’d gone missing, and been discouraged by station staff. Instead the parents were told about the letter days later when they returned to the station hoping to be allowed to file the case according to their legal rights. 

Rejected once more by police officers, Mengha Ram and his wife contacted the vice president of the National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony in Punjab, Mr. Ramesh Jay Pal; the organization is under the federal government. With his help they met the Imam in charge of the Darul-Uloom Madressa in Khan Pur. The Imam, Mr. Maulana Abdul Hafeez, reportedly told them that their daughter was there and had embraced Islam so was not allowed to see her parents. 

At the insistence of Mr. Ramesh and with the alleged permission of the local police, a meeting was arranged between the girl and her parents, in the presence of many Madrassa members. Her parents reports that Gajri appeared very upset when questioned about her conversion, and did not confirm it. The majority of the questions directed at her were answered by Madrassa staff. 

In January the parents tried to file a case of abduction against their neighbor and the Madrassa but report being refused help by District Police Officer (DPO) Mr. Imtiaz Gul. He allegedly told them that he had no power to intervene in matters of religion conversion, and that their daughter was now the property of the Madrassa. He noted that Islam was a religion that could be entered, but not exited. 

As yet no marriage certificate has been produced, and Gajri’s parents continue to be denied access to their daughter and refused any form of help from the authorities. An FIR has still not been filed. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

The AHRC is concerned by the lack of legal protection for crimes involving forced conversions, but is also strongly censures the lack of police action in such cases when other laws and fundamental rights are allegedly violated. 

The abduction of children by strangers is not condoned by Pakistan law regardless of that person’s religion, and neither is the obstruction of the complaint-filing process by police. Under the Pakistan Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1962 a girl must be at least 16 and a boy at least 18 before they marry, and both must consent. Although the affidavit claimed that Gajri was 18, the police are duty-bound to investigate this following the complaint of a parent. It should also be noted that the Contract Act of 1872 invalidates a contract if any of the parties are younger than 18. This has been used in High Court arguments against the forced conversion of minors. 

Pakistan is a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and has adjusted its legal framework accordingly. As a minor, Gajiri cannot arbitrarily be removed from the custody of her parents. Her presence and alleged captivity at the Madrassa against the wishes of her parents is illegal. 

However such violations continue. The AHRC has documented numerous cases in which police have ignored or excused themselves from investigating crimes that involve a Madrassa or Muslim cleric. The protection of the national religion does not involve the promotion of its figureheads above the law; this tendency has simply allowed Islam to become a shield behind which human rights violations can take place unaddressed. 

Although Pakistan has very few legal protections in place for religious minorities, the country is still bound to a variety of international conventions that bind it to a standard of protection for them. Pakistan is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which claims (in Article 18.1) that: Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. Article 18. 2 of the ICCPR states that: no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. These are both echoed in the Declaration of the General Assembly. 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child covers the protection of children of religion minorities, stating (in Article. 30) that they: shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practice his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language. 

The AHRC continues to be informed of cases in which police have willfully ignored the abduction of young girls from minority religions and their forced conversion through marriage. Many of these girls are raped, others are never heard from again by their families; all cases involved a struggle to access their right to redress. As many as 20 to 25 girls from the Hindu community are abducted every month and converted forcibly, according to Amarnath Motumal, an advocate and council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. For other such cases please perform a search for ‘religious conversion’ and ‘Pakistan’ under our Urgent Appeals section. Among these you will find our most recent cases, which include: A Hindu girl has been abducted by a landlord and forcibly converted to Islam; the authorities have refused to intervene, A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist by jirga members; police and courts fail to act  and Another Hindu girl forcibly converted to Islam after being abducted.

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please write letters to the authorities listed below demanding an investigation into the abduction of Gajri, and into the nationwide pattern of negligence by police in such cases. 

The AHRC has written to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of religion or belief calling for their intervention in this case.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER