Every year more than thousand non-Muslim girls in Pakistan are forced to marry by converting to Islam.

Islamabad: What kind of atrocities are committed on the minority community in Pakistan is not hidden from the world. Now a recent report states that every year more than a thousand Hindu, Christian girls are abducted here and forcibly converted to Islam and married. Citing an investigation conducted by Britain’s All Party Parliamentary Group, ‘Islam Khabar’ said in the report that this figure is based on a thorough investigation, but not accurate, as the exact number can never be ascertained.

The report, published in September 2021, focuses on Christian and Hindu girls aged 12-25. Hindus account for 1.59 percent and Christians 1.60 percent of Pakistan’s 220 million population. Buddhists, Sikhs and urns are also surveyed by their representative bodies, field surveys and persons appearing before the inquiry body. According to Islam Khabar, the AAPPG report appeals to the National Database and Registration Authority, an agency of the Government of Pakistan, to collect data used by police and courts to determine the age of minors.

The report further states that the cases of abduction, forced conversions and marriages have mostly occurred with poor and uneducated families, who are socially very backward. Most of these were related to household chores or petty chores. They are prone to exploitation, violence, pressure and false promises. According to the report, such cases of crimes against minorities in Pakistan have been increasing continuously in recent years.

Cases of forced conversions have increased since the birth of Pakistan in 1947. The plight of women in Pakistan is also increasing as a latest report said that around 6,754 women were abducted in the country’s Punjab province in the first half of 2021. Of these, 1,890 women were raped, 3,721 were tortured while 752 children were raped.