A Hindu woman and her minor daughter have reportedly been abducted by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Sindh province, officials confirmed.
The kidnapping incident took place on Saturday in Karachi’s Sher Shah area of Sindhi Mohalla neighborhood.
According to initial statements from the family, the woman was seized by three armed men who pushed her into a white Alto moments after she stepped outside her home, triggering widespread fear and concern within the local community.
Shiva Kaachi, a civil rights activist representing the Hindu community in Sindh, said Rani and her minor daughter remain missing, and the family fears she may be forcibly converted to Islam and married off to one of the abductors.
“We have managed to get a FIR registered, but it was a deeply alarming situation the way three unidentified armed men abducted the Hindu mother and her daughter,” he said.
Kaachi urged senior police officials to take immediate notice and act, noting that Hindu women and girls are increasingly being abducted, forcibly converted, and married to Muslim men—often significantly older.
Kachi, who operates his office in Mirpurkhas, Sindh, added that he has been receiving death threats from groups involved in the kidnapping and forced conversion of Hindu girls, mostly from economically disadvantaged families.
“I have received death threats on the phone, and I fear for my life, but I have reported the matter to the police and have asked for security.”
In a separate incident in Umerkot city, also in Sindh province, armed men attempted to kidnap another Hindu woman who had recently married.
Bhagvi was traveling with her husband to visit her parents when gunmen tried to seize her. She narrowly escaped the abduction attempt after local residents intervened and confronted the attackers, forcing them to flee.
Earlier as per reports Hindu girl students in Pakistan’s Sindh province claimed they were pressured to convert to Islam in order to continue their education, prompting the provincial government to launch a formal inquiry.
The girls were allegedly been told to convert to Islam to continue their studies, prompting the Government to order an inquiry, an official said.
The controversy began in late November when parents of Hindu girls studying at the Government High School in Mirpur Sakro told the media that the school’s headmistress had allegedly asked their children to embrace Islam to remain enrolled.
The parents said the girls were being forced to recite the Kalma and mocked for practising their own faith and further alleged that some students were sent home after refusing to convert or recite the Kalma.
The allegations sparked outrage, leading Minister of State for Religious Affairs Kheeso Mal Kheal Das to inform the Senate on Thursday that the provincial education minister had ordered an investigation into the matter.
A spokesperson for Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah confirmed that a committee had been constituted to visit Mirpur Sakro and determine the facts.
“The committee members have already recorded statements from the affected students, their parents, the headmistress, and other teachers. No one is permitted to use coercion or threats to force conversion,” he said.
