Hindu girl shot dead in Pakistan's Sindh province
Highlights
- The girl was identified as Pooja Oad and was said to have been shot in the middle of the street
- She had put up resistance to the attackers and was shot dead in Sukkur
- Women belonging to minority communities are regularly abducted and forcibly converted in Pakistan
In a shocking incident, an 18-year-old Hindu girl was shot dead in Pakistan's Sindh Province during a failed abduction attempt, media reports said on Tuesday. The girl was identified as Pooja Oad and was said to have been shot in the middle of the street in Rohi, Sukkur after she put up resistance to the attackers, news agency ANI quoted The Friday Times newspaper.
This is not a stand-alone incident in Pakistan. Human rights activists say hundreds of Christian and Hindu girls are forced to convert to Islam every year.
Women belonging to minority communities are regularly abducted and forcibly converted.
Rights group says the country's minority communities have long faced the issue of forced marriages and conversions.
Multiple rights organisations have accused the Pakistan government of not taking necessary actions over the rising crimes against Hindus and other minorities.
Earlier, the provincial government in Sindh had attempted to outlaw forced conversions and marriages. However, religious protestors contested the bill, stating that girls only convert after falling in love with Muslim men.
The overall population of the Hindu community in Pakistan at 1.60 per cent, and 6.51 per cent in Sindh, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
(With inputs from ANI)
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