Minor Hindu girl converted to Islam, married to Muslim man in Pakistan
Gambat, Sindh, Pakistan 
25 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Pakistan's Sindh, a minor Hindu girl named Iqra was was converted to Islam by a Sufi maulvi named Mian Javed Qadri in Bharchundi Dargah in Sindh. After her conversion, the minor girl was married off to one Gulbhar. In a video statement, the Hindu minor Iqra says that her conversion was voluntary and that she was under no pressure or threat to convert. She says she converted to Islam because her faith in Allah. The video showed Iqra reciting the Shahada multiple times as the Maulvi converted her to Islam. Pertinently, Pir Mian Javed Ahmed has a long history of converting minority Hindus of Pakistan to Islam - the very Hindus who are regularly persecuted for their religious identity in the Islamic nation. The Pir in question has also in the past converted several minor Hindu girls to Islam and facilitated their marriage to adult Muslim men. Hindu minorities in Pakistan face persistent persecution, 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 is being added to the primary category 'Predatory Proselytisation' under the sub-category 'Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination'. The tertiary category the case has been added to is 'pattern of targeting Hindus' and '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. In this case, it is true that the minor in question has claimed that she converted to Islam out of her own free will. It is further important to note here that the victim was a minor, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Further, in this case, there is also an established pattern of the targeting of Hindus in general and Hindu minor girls in particular. When Hindus are targeted repeatedly for the purpose of conversion and persecution, it clearly establishes that the victims are profiled based on their religious identity. In Pakistan specifically, there is an established pattern of members of the Muslim majority, including religious leaders, persecuting Hindu girls where the girls are abducted, converted to Islam and then married of to adult Muslim men. There is a strong element of coercion involved since the minors are vulnerable. Their conversion is predatory in nature ab initio and given the additional context of the persecution of Hindus in Pakistan, the minor saying that she converted to Islam willingly is a statement that does not negate the element of brainwashing and predatory proselytisation in such cases. For that reason, this case is being added to the hate crime database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
