Minor Hindu girl abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim man in Pakistan

Case ID : ea34bb5 | Location : Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan | Date of Incident : Fri, 2 May, 2025
Case ID : ea34bb5
location Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan
date 2 May, 2025
Minor Hindu girl abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim man in Pakistan
Predatory Proselytisation
Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination
Conversion of minor
Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In Nara Choondiko, Sukkur, in the Sindh province of Pakistan, a minor Hindu girl named Monica was abducted from her home, forcefully converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man named Bashir Ahmed Sheikh. According to a news report, the victim, Monica, was the daughter of a Hindu man named Hakim Oud from Nara Choondiko. The victim was abducted from her home and forcibly converted to Islam before being married to Bashir Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of the same place. She was married off to Bashir at the Khairpur Sessions Court; thereafter, her name was changed to Samreen. Following this, the family of the victim filed a kidnapping and rape case at the Soura Police Station. They stated that Monica was abducted against her will. After the marriage, the victim gave a few media statements, and the distress on her face raised concerns and further suggested this to a case of coercion despite officials' claim it to be a case of voluntary conversion and marriage. According to news reports, every year, in Pakistan, especially in Sindh, multiple cases are reported of abduction, forced conversions and marriages of Hindu girls to Muslim men. The victims are often coerced under threats, manipulation, or outright violence. 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.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

The prime category under which this case has been placed is- Predatory proselytisation, and within this, the first sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected within this 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. The second sub-category selected here 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. This case has been added under the category of a hate crime since the abduction and forced conversion of a minor Hindu girl, followed by her marriage to a Muslim man in Pakistan’s Sindh province, starkly illustrates the exploitation of vulnerable individuals through coercion and manipulation. Such incidents are not isolated cases; rather, they are part of a persistent and troubling pattern in Pakistan, where Hindu minorities-particularly young girls, are frequently targeted for kidnappings, forced religious conversions, and marriages to Muslim men. This ongoing trend underscores the systemic discrimination and violence faced by Hindu communities, which have been subjected to various forms of harassment, marginalisation, and abuse since the country’s inception. The fact that the victim in this case is a minor is critical, as 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, using abduction and coercion tactics, then they are widely recognised as hate crimes and clear violations of both human rights and child protection norms. Additionally, in this case, even the parents of the victim have stated that their daughter was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man, all of which highlights animosity towards the Hindu community. This further contributes to their persecution at the hands of the Muslim majority in Pakistan. This case, therefore, exemplifies the broader crisis of forced conversions and systemic persecution faced by Hindu minorities in Pakistan. Since the motive of the crime was rooted in religious animosity and hatred, it has been categorised as a Hate Crime and included in the Hinduphobia Tracker.

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 Background
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Case Status


Complaint filed

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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


One Person

Perpetrators Gender


male

Case Details SVG
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