World News | Forced marriages, conversions continue in Pakistan: report

Islamabad [Pakistan]2 June (ANI): Pakistan is already battling an unfavorable political and economic situation and continues to bear the brunt of forced marriages and conversions, Human Rights Without Borders reported.

Human Rights Without Borders is a Europe-based organization that tracks incidents of people around the world being imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief.

Read also | Pride Month 2023: What’s the 2S in 2SLGBTQIA+? Learn about acronyms and their conversions.

According to data compiled by the Center for Social Justice, one of Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s (CSW) local partners in Pakistan, 202 incidents were recorded and documented between 2021 and 2022. Almost all incidents took place in Sindh and Punjab provinces.

Out of the 202 cases, there were 120 Hindu women and girls, 80 Christians and 2 Sikhs. Girls from “lower” caste Hindu communities were the most at-risk group, the data showed. And of those figures, only 20 were identified as over 18, and 133 were under 18 (of which 55 were under 14). In the remaining 49 cases, the age was unknown or unconfirmed.

Read also | American Indian Citizenship Day 2023 Dates: Learn about the history and significance of this day in America.

In the data, CSW stated that a Hindu woman named Pooja Kumari, 18 years old, on March 21, 2022, three men broke into her home near Chhuahra Mandi area, Sukkur province, Sindh province. One of the men is said to have proposed to Kumari, but when she refused, he and others attempted to kidnap her. When she resisted, they shot and killed her, Human Rights Without Borders reported.

Previously, on 26 October 2022, six UN special rapporteurs, including the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls issued a joint statement, from which Jonathan Dresser excluded Words like “allegedly” and “reportedly,” when he quotes some of them, “because these are facts that CSW can verify.”

“These women and girls were then (reportedly) coerced by their abductors to appear in court and give testimony and/or sign official documents certifying that they were of age, married and voluntary conversion to Islam. This coercion (reportedly) Threats of violence from their families. The perpetrators of these crimes (allegedly) enjoy a large degree of impunity, partly due to the actions of the security forces and the judicial system,” said Jonathan de Leyser. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)