Abduction, Rape, Conversion & Forced Marriage: The Existential Challenges for Pakistan’s Minorities

As a typical editor and news buff, I was chatting with some of my contacts and sources via Whatsapp last winter to discuss a certain hash tag (#SaveKajalBheel) that was trending on Twitter in India. While getting the inside scoop, I was fortunate enough to get into contact with some truly inspirational human rights activists working with Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) – a nondenominational NGO based at The Hague. GHRD sounded really familiar and suddenly it clicked to me that I had heard the founder and chairman of the same institution, Mr Sradhanand Sital, give a talk at the first World Hindu Congress held in New Delhi in November 2014. Mr Sital discussed the sorry state of religious minority groups of all denominations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. He spoke with passion about cases that were and are rarely heard of in mainstream media. Fast-forward back to last winter, while researching about the #SaveKajalBheel trend, I was introduced to Mr Sital’s son, Jay Sital, who has recently completed his LLB and plans to carry the GHRD torch further. Jay graciously introduced me to and arranged a Skype call with GHRD’s caseworker (Radjnie Gowri) who was handling the Kajal Bheel file. Radjnie has been working with GHRD for the last 8+ years in various capacities and has been the lead on many high profile cases for GHRD during her tenure. My conversation with Radjnie regarding Kajal and other victims was truly an eye-opener and the summary which is presented below may very well be an eye-opener for you (the reader) as well.

Radjnie related to me how Kajal Bheel (Yes, Bheel = the famous tribe that assisted Maharana Pratap in his guerilla warfare against the Mughals), a native of Matiari, Sindh, was roughly 11-12 years of age when she was abducted on 21st October 2014. Kajal’s parents and family members looked for her frantically. They went to the police to lodge an FIR and begin court proceedings. Fast-forward to the investigation: Bheel was forcefully converted and married off to her abductor shortly thereafter. Upon conclusion of a medical examination, examiners allegedly provided faulty testimony by stating that Kajal was around 17 years of age (Note: still a minor according to the civil law). The judge decided to apply Sharia Law (accordingly, she is no longer a minor). Kajal is still with her abductor. Her case is pending in court but the parents have lost hope and trust in the judiciary and are not willing to proceed any further. Based on Kajal’s case, one wonders what kind of judiciary exists in Pakistan. Is it Sharia for some and civil law for others?

Pakistan: The Home of Kangaroo Courts

Pakistan has been on the receiving end of much global scrutiny for many years and on January 14, 2016, it added another feather on its cap of infamy. News started leaking that Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony shot down proposed amendments to the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2014 at the behest of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) as the amendments were deemed to be un-Islamic and blasphemous (CII is the same Council that advised legislators in 2013 to render DNA evidence inadmissible in rape cases!). The proposed amendments essentially entailed enforcing stricter penalties on those indulging in and facilitating child marriages as well as raising the legal marriage age of females nationally to 18 from the current 16 (the definition of who is legally a ‘child’ in the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929). It was hoped that with the momentum built by similar legislation being passed in Sindh province (in 2014) would likely be successful. Sadly, this was not meant to be. With these developments in the backdrop, it will be much easier for the reader to understand the growing incidences of child marriages and forceful child marriages. It is estimated that roughly 20 percent of marriages in Pakistan involve children and a good proportion of these marriages involve minority community females as victims and majority community males as culprits.

Challenges

It is clear to all who possess critical thinking skills that Pakistan’s judiciary is heavily influenced by Sharia law and the notion that civil law exists is becoming but a façade!

It is difficult to estimate the exact numbers of cases of forced conversion and marriages among the Hindu community of Pakistan for various reasons:

• Lack of reporting incidents – due mainly to fears of the victim’s family members for their own safety.
• Lack of cooperation from law enforcement agents

Although most cases remain unreported, GHRD monitors numerous cases that are brought to the legal system regardless of the threats with the help of GHRD and its partners. GHRD has keenly observed that Hindu girls in Sindh province seem to be the most susceptible demographic to abduction, forced marriage and conversion. Some may argue that this is due to the fact that Sindh has the largest Hindu minority community in Pakistan. But that is hardly an explanation. It is more plausible that this phenomenon is due to the fact that the judiciary is weak and it seems to empower would-be abductors to do their deeds without fear of consequences.

In most cases, police officers refuse to register First Information Reports (FIRs) or delay registering FIRs, especially when perpetrators are influential members of the local community. In rare cases where victimized families are able to file complaints, the abductors immediately file counter-claims on behalf of the victims. The grounds for the counter-claims allege the ‘voluntary’ nature of the marriage and conversion, thereby accusing the ‘victim’ family of harassing the newlyweds. The police then decide to back off from taking any action on the original complaints and this severely delays the potential return of the victim to her family and home.

Radjnie emphasizes that the period between the abduction and police intervention is crucial for many reasons. Firstly, the faster the investigation is launched, the higher the chance of returning the victim back to her family. Secondly, the longer the victims stay with their abductors, the less likely they are to speak out against them – the victims are subjected to intense repeated psychological and psychical violence, as well as verbal and sexual abuse.

Proving to be a minor is a huge legal obstacle for victims – birth certificates and other documents produced as proof of age are generally disregarded by judges. Instead, judges require medical examinations to determine the age of the victim. These medical examinations allegedly tend to be botched and biased. Despite evidence of a victim being a minor, judges place emphasis on verbal consent to the marriage given by the minor victim in court. Such consent statements are given under duress in hostile environments (due to pressure from the perpetrator and his family). Additionally, support for the perpetrator in court is sought from local extremists from the community who attend court hearings. All of these factors delay the return of the victim to her family and subject her to further abuse. Victims are usually sent to shelter homes until their medical examinations are completed. The medical examinations can get deferred to later dates and family members can be restricted from visiting their victimized daughters while they are at the shelters. This further increases the suffering for all and destroys their resolve to carry on fighting for justice.

Many judges claim that sending victimized girls to shelter homes seems like a fair temporary solution compared to the abusive environment they have to endure, but the reality is something else! Women and female children living in shelters claim that they are no less than prisons. They also claim that although judges grant their families visitation privileges, the families are seldom allowed inside the shelters.   

In some cases of abduction and rape of minority girls, if the medical examination determines a girl’s age to be Sharia-compliant, then her abductor’s family is requested to convert the girl and have her married to the culprit.

Depending on the judge, if civil law deems a girl to be a legal ‘child’, then the judge may choose to apply Sharia law. Under Sharia, if the girl has reached puberty, then she is considered an adult. Many child marriage/abduction/rape/conversion cases have been dismissed based on judgments involving cherry-picking between civil and Sharia law.

Justice Denied

Pakistan holds a special distinction – as of today, no perpetrators have been sentenced for their crimes (abduction, forced marriage, forced conversion, and rape on minorities). Although laws designed to protect girls from these horrible offences exist, the biased legal system fails to properly implement them. This failure continues to empower and encourage such behavior.  

Parents and family members of victims are frequently forced to move around and live undercover at undisclosed locations as they are often on the receiving end of death threats. Eventually, parents give up the battle as they lose faith in the judicial system of Pakistan as they are left with two options: 1) stay silent, or 2) face threats and potential death at the hands of the culprits.

GHRD receives countless monthly briefings of new abductions and conversions and the question caseworkers like Radjnie ask is: Why has the state never taken any action towards protecting its children?

Some Other High Profile Cases in Pakistan:

As my conversation with Radjnie progressed, many other cases came up. Here is a summary of some of those cases:

Anjali Meghwar: The 12-year-old from Daherki, Sindh was abducted on 29th October 2014. She was forcefully converted and married shortly after. Although the perpetrator was arrested, he was later freed on bail. Anjali is in a shelter home.

Zarmeena Bheel: The 12-year-old from Ghotki, Sindh was abducted on 2nd of January 2015. She was forcefully converted and married shortly after. Although the police registered the FIR, the perpetrators are still at large. Zarmeena is at an unknown place with her abductor.

Jeevni Bhagri: The 11-year-old from Ghotki, Sindh was abducted on 13th February 2015. She was forcefully converted and married shortly after. Despite three court orders, the perpetrators are still at large. Jeevni is at an unknown place with her abductors.

Anarkali Kaur: The 14-year-old from Karachi, Sindh was abducted on 17th of March 2015. Although the police registered the FIR, the perpetrators are still at large. Anarkali is at an unknown place with her abductor.

Ram Piyari Oad: The 11-year-old girl from Qambar-Shahdadkot, Sindh was abducted on 19th of April 2015. The perpetrators are known to the police but have yet to be arrested. The case of Ram Piyari is pending in court. She was sent to a shelter home. It is alleged that the parents were intimated and escorted out of court under duress. The judge hearing the case advised the parents to be happy that their daughter had now become a Muslim.

Madhuri Kolhi: The 15-year-old girl from Umerkot, Sindh was abducted on 2nd of June 2015. She was forcefully converted and married a week after. The perpetrators are known to the police but have not been arrested. The police are not willing to lodge an FIR. Madhuri is still with her abductors.

I hope and trust that the summary of my conversation with Radjnie Gowri of GHRD above provides you with enough fuel to fight for justice! #SaveKajalBheel (the campaign) woke me up to the horrors of forced child marriages in Pakistan and that of minority community girls in particular. I also hope that many more such cases do not have to occur in the future to compel the world to take action.

Some Parting Questions:

• How many more Kajals, Anjalis, Zarmeenas, Jeevnis, Anarkalis, Ram Pyaris, and Madhuris must suffer before the world community takes decisive action against the Pakistani establishment?
• Why do we never hear about these stories and why isn’t the world up-in-arms about these gross violations of human rights?
• Why doesn’t India play a larger role in pressuring its hostile neighbors to implement the ‘justice’ it proudly claims to hold sacred?
• Why are we so apathetic towards the suffering of women and children in some jurisdictions but champions of human rights in others?
• Read the cases above. Does your heart fill up with sorrow, empathy, and compassion?

How You And I Can Help:

• Support GHRD in spreading these stories by signing their petitions to the UNHRC, financially supporting them, following them on Twitter and Facebook etc.
• Request your local elected representative to take these cases up just as they did for Syrian Refugees.
• Remind mainstream media outlets that they have a civic duty and responsibility to expose such gross violations of human rights. The News is not just about sensational stories that yield news outlets huge profits. The News is not about propagandizing the views of special interest groups or lobbyists. The News is not about serving as a mouthpiece for governments. Selective outrage as demonstrated by news outlets both in South Asia, Europe and North America must cease (Culprits include: CNN, CNN-IBN, NDTV, Fox News and others).
• Promote and fund news outlets, magazines, and blogs that perform their duties with sincerity. One should congratulate our colleagues at Zee News, Sudarshan News, Swarajya Magazine, Sanskriti Magazine, Niti Central, HHR, WHN, us at Chakra News, and many others for taking up this immense uphill battle!

Let us hope that the timeless motto from mantra 3.1.6 of Mundaka Upanishad holds:

 

Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood.
Through truth the divine path is spread out
by which the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled, reach
where that supreme treasure of Truth resides

Thanks for your attention,

Abhaya S. Dube