Imagine your daughter goes out to play with her friends. She dosen't return. A parent's worst nightmare right? Well, what if you knew where your daughter was and no one can help you get her. Let us help Ms. Gajri "Radha" Ram's parents get her back and make them a family again.

HUMAN RIGHTS ALERT: PAKISTAN: A 15 year-old Hindu teenager, Gajri "Radha" Ram, is kidnapped, forcibly converted, and to marry someone against her consent. Courts and police fail to act.

Issues: Abduction, forced conversion, forced underage marriage



Dear Friends,

Pakistan Hindu Post is reporting an attack on a minority Hindu girl. The girl was abducted, forcibly converted, and married against her will. It is not uncommon for poor minority and non-Muslim girls to be abducted/married/raped by local older, powerful Muslim men.



Case details:

The incident occurred on December 21, 2009. This case involves the abduction of a minority Hindu girl who had gone to play with her Muslim girlfriends in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab province,Pakistan. When she did not return that evening, her father, Mehnga Ram, literally "knocked on every door stretching from the president of Pakistan to Punjab chief minister and chief secretary, but to no avail." Some friends eventually informed them that she was being held at the local madrassa. Local police, including the former and current district police officers of Rahim Yar Khan, are supporting the people who abducted Radha and are neither registering a first information report (FIR) against the accused, nor are they taking any action to recover the girl from the custody of the madrassa. The police said they could not register an FIR because the "girl had converted and the family should just forget the matter." The authorities claim that the girl had married a boy named Naveed. To this day, the police have refused to lodge an FIR.



The girl's family is destitutely poor and her brother, Prakash said, ""We only curse ourselves for being so poor and sometimes even for being non-Muslims in a country where religion matters. We are not expecting justice from anyone and it is simply over for us now." So far, despite numerous promises and assurances, no action has been taken against the culprits and the girl has not been returned to her family. Local human rights activists from all faiths have collaborated to return Radha to her parents.

The abduction of children by strangers is not condoned by Pakistan law regardless of that person's religion, and neither is the obstruction of the complaint-filing process by police. Under the Pakistan Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1962 a girl must be at least 16 and a boy at least 18 before they marry, and both must consent. It should also be noted that the Contract Act of 1872 invalidates a contract if any of the parties are younger than 18. This has been used in High Court arguments against the forced conversion of minors.

Pakistan is a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and has adjusted its legal framework accordingly. As a minor, Radha cannot arbitrarily be removed from the custody of her parents. Her presence and alleged captivity at the Madrassa against the wishesof her parents is illegal. However such violations continue. There are numerous cases documented in which police have ignored or excused themselves from investigating crimes that involve a Madrassa or Muslim cleric out of fear, intimidation, or even agreement. This case highlights the Pakistani system's blind eye to matters involving minority faiths, be they Hindus, Christians, Ahmediya Muslims, Buddhists, and other minorities.



