An 18-year-old Hindu girl was shot dead in Pakistan’s Sindh Province during a failed abduction attempt, on Tuesday. Her name was Pooja Oad and was shot in the middle of the street in Rohi, Sukkur after she put up resistance to the attackers.
This is not a stand-alone incident in Pakistan. Human rights activists say hundreds of Christian and Hindu girls are forced to convert their own religion to Islam every year.
Women belonging to minority communities are regularly converted against their will.
Rights group says Pakistan’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.
Previously, 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.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the overall population of the Hindu community in Pakistan is 1.60%, and 6.51% in Sindh.
