An 18-year-old Hindu girl was reportedly shot dead in Pakistan’s Sindh region, in yet another terrible instance in the country’s long history of violence against minorities. According to Pakistani media sources, the girl was shot dead after a failed kidnapping attempt in the Rohi region of Sukkur town.
After putting up opposition to the attackers, the girl was alleged to have been shot in the middle of the street. Pooja Oad, an 18-year-old Hindu girl, was reportedly shot and killed in Rohi, Sukkur. The attackers shot the young girl after a failed kidnapping attempt. This was the second attempt to kidnap the girl after she successfully fled the first attempt.
Several women from minority populations, particularly Hindus in Sindh, are abducted and forcibly converted by religious fanatics every year, according to the report. Forced marriages and conversions have long been a problem in Pakistan’s minority populations, according to the research.
Between 2013 and 2019, 156 incidences of forced conversions were reported by the Peoples Commission for Minorities’ Rights and the Centre for Social Justice. The Sindh government attempted to criminalise forced conversions and weddings for the second time in 2019, but the bill was challenged by religious activists, according to the article.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the Hindu community in Pakistan accounts for 1.60 per cent of the total population and 6.51 per cent in Sindh.
Sindh province is home to the bulk of Pakistan’s Hindu community, which share their culture, traditions, and language with Muslim citizens. They frequently report being harassed by fanatics. This isn’t a one-off occurrence in Pakistan.
Hundreds of Christian and Hindu girls are reportedly forced to convert to Islam every year, according to human rights organisations.