A 14-year-old girl was abducted from Jacobabad. Ali Raza Solangi, 30, allegedly kidnapped her while she was on her way to school. She was later converted to Islam and married off to Solangi.
“My daughter has been kidnapped, and Ali Raza, who is a laborer, is responsible for her abduction. He is already married and has four children. How can my daughter like him?” said Vijay Kumar, the girl’s father.
In the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan, cases of forced conversions have continued to surface. Over the past three months, at least three to four girls have reportedly been kidnapped and converted to Islam. Police have not recovered them.
To curb child marriage, the Sindh government introduced the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2014, following the case of Anjali Kumari, a minor who had been abducted. After the court established she was underage, she was sent to a shelter home. Once she turned 18, she was released to the man who had married her.
Why the Child Marriage Restraint Act Fails to Protect Non-Muslim Girls
“This act applies to Non-Muslims only if both the boy and the girl are Non-Muslim,” said advocate Amar Nath. “However, if the girl is Non-Muslim and the boy is Muslim, the authorities refuse to implement the act. Islam permits conversion—including the marriage of a minor.”
Because Non-Muslims are not treated as equal citizens under the law, such protections often fail to apply to them.
Raj Kumar, an activist, criticized the structural bias, saying, “Non-Muslims are already discriminated against in the Constitution of Pakistan, so we don’t see how these laws can help us.”
Local police have reportedly intervened in child marriages involving Muslim girls. In contrast, they fail to prevent marriages involving underage Non-Muslim girls.
“Once a girl is converted to Islam, there is no way to return her to her family—otherwise, she is considered ‘Wajib-ul-Qatl’ [deserving of death],” said Kalpina Devi, an activist and advocate. She added that the Child Marriage Restraint Act cannot protect Non-Muslim girls because the dominant mindset sees conversion as a path to Jannat [Heaven].
Veerji Kohli, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Sindh for the Human Rights Department, acknowledged that the law has not been applied equally. Hindu families often struggle to provide documentary proof of a girl’s age. In Monika Kumari’s case, however, her family was able to prove she was underage, and the court returned her to her parents.
When asked about Monika Kumari—who was reportedly kidnapped again a few months later, with her whereabouts still unknown—alongside the 2019 case of a Christian girl in Karachi who was abducted, converted, and married off despite proof she was a minor—Kohli responded: “I accept the lack of implementation of the act. In 2020, our government will ensure its enforcement.”
Asad Iqbal Butt, spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said: “There is a mindset that prevails in every institution of the state. Even some judges have been heard saying, ‘Why are you pursuing cases of conversion?’”
“You cannot enforce the law unless you change the mindset. A certain mindset is fostered through the school curriculum, which teaches that Jews and Hindus are enemies. The state must revise the syllabus. Laws are often passed only to appease international forums and secure foreign funding,” he added.
Ravi Dawani, Secretary General of the All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, claimed that powerful actors obstruct the law’s implementation. “We saw what happened to Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, who was gunned down. Who is stopping the Sindh government from releasing Dr. Nimrita Kumari’s report?” he asked. “In Punjab, courts allow girls to return home. In Sindh, despite the law, girls are sent to shelter homes instead of being returned to their families.”
“Hindus are deeply disappointed. No one is interested in solving our issues,” said Dawani.
“The local police know where these girls are,” said Leela Raam, an activist and lawyer, “but they don’t help families recover them because the girls are Non-Muslim.”
