Minor Hindu girl abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim man in Pakistan
Matli, Sindh, Pakistan 
29 June, 2025
Case Summary
In the Matli area of Sindh province, Pakistan, a 14-year-old Hindu girl named Shehnila Maharaj was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man. Shiva Kachhi, a prominent Pakistani Hindu rights activist and Chairman of the minority rights organisation Ittehad, shared Shehnila’s story on his X (formerly Twitter) account. As per Shiva Kachhi, the victim, Shehnila, was a 9th-grade student who had been abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to a Muslim man. She was abducted from Matli by four Muslims, out of whom two were identified as Maqsood Dars and Manzoor Dars, while the identities of the other two remain unknown. The victim’s parents contacted the local police, but they were unable to recover their daughter. After which they approached Kachhi on X. Kachhi stated that the victim’s mother, father, sister, and brothers were devastated and were pleading for Shehnila’s safe return. In a video uploaded by Kachhi on his X handle, the victim’s parents stated that four Muslims had abducted their daughter. The mother further expressed that she does not even know if her daughter is alive. Both parents reiterated that the police had not helped them in recovering their daughter. Kachhi also pointed out that, legally, child marriage is prohibited, yet abductions and conversions of Hindu women and minor girls remain common in Pakistan. He further stated that, in such cases, even the police fail to take action against the Muslim perpetrators. He further demanded the arrest of those Islamic clerics who take part in sanctifying the Nikah (Islamic marriage) of such abducted Hindu girls. He also called upon the Pakistani authorities to ban forced religious conversions. Kachhi on his X appealed to the IG Sindh, DIG Hyderabad, SSP Badin, and other relevant authorities to immediately recover Shehnila Maharaj and arrest all those responsible. This case highlights the persecution faced by the Hindu minorities in Pakistan, marked by systemic discrimination, violence, and forced conversions. Hindu women, particularly young girls, are often abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim men with little to no legal recourse. Temples are frequently vandalised or destroyed, and Hindu communities are subjected to social and economic marginalisation. Blasphemy laws are disproportionately used against Hindus, leading to false accusations and severe punishments. Many Hindu families are forced to flee their homes due to religious intolerance, living in constant fear of attacks. This sustained persecution highlights the dire conditions for Hindus in Pakistan, where their religious identity makes them targets of oppression.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. Another subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category selected is- Conversion of Minor. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added under the category of a hate crime since the abduction, forced conversion of a minor Hindu girl, followed by her marriage to a Muslim man in Pakistan, starkly illustrates the exploitation of vulnerable Hindu minorities through coercion and force. Such incidents are not isolated cases; rather, they are part of a persistent and troubling pattern in Pakistan, where Hindu minorities, particularly young Hindu girls, are frequently targeted for kidnappings, forced religious conversions, and marriages to Muslim men. This ongoing trend showcases the systemic discrimination and violence faced by the Hindu community in Pakistan. The Hindu minority has been subjected to various forms of harassment, marginalisation, and abuse since the country’s inception. Another point to highlight is that the victim in this case is a minor. Hence, it negates any genuine element of consent or voluntary change of faith from the outset. Children, due to their ongoing emotional and cognitive development, are especially susceptible to manipulation and indoctrination, making them easy targets for those seeking to exploit religious or social vulnerabilities. When such acts are perpetrated against minors of a specific faith, in this case, Hindus, using abduction and coercion tactics, then they are clear instances of hate crimes and clear violations of both human rights and child protection norms. As the motive behind the crime is rooted in religious animosity towards Hindus, it has been categorised as a hate crime and included in the Hinduphobia Tracker. Furthermore, Hindu activist Shiva Kachhi pointed out that the authorities failed to arrest the perpetrators or recover the victim safely. This highlights a systematic bias against the minority Hindu victims, which emboldens the Muslim perpetrators in Pakistan to act with impunity. This reveals a pattern of systematic persecution of the Hindu minority in Pakistan.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
