Pakistan: Petition – Ensure human rights protection of a minority rape victim in Pakistan
— Pakistan Hindu Post: “: A 17 year old Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist,police and courts fail to act”
Category: Childrens Rights Matter
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Sudan: Shocking Torture Video from Darfur
Pakistan: Christian Students Abused in Schools
— Compass Daily News reports:
— “Muslim teachers at a girls school here have derided Christian students for their faith, beat them, pressured them to convert to Islam and forced them to clean school bathrooms and classrooms after class hours, according to area Christians.”
— “Muslim teachers at Government Higher Secondary School in village No. 79-NB (Northern Branch), Sargodha, in Punjab Province, have so abused Christian students that two of the dozens of Christian girls at the school have dropped out, said a 16-year-old student identified only as Sana.”
— “‘Christian students are teased and mocked by radical Muslim, female teachers from the start of the school day to the end,’ she said. ‘Due to the contemptuous behavior on religious grounds by the fanatical Muslim principal and staff, Christian students feel dejected, depressed and frustrated. I am totally broken-hearted because of the intolerance and discrimination.'”
— “Rebecca Bhatti, a 16-year-old grade 10 student, told Compass she left the government school because her main teacher, along with an Islamic Education & Arabic Language teacher identified only as Sumaira, a math teacher identified only as Gullnaz, other Muslim teachers and Ferhat Naz, the principal, would call Christian girls in to the staff room at recess and demand that they polish their shoes or wash their undergarments and other clothes.”
— see the rest of the CDN report
Nigeria: Senate may ‘bury’ Ahmed Sani Yerima, matter — marrying 13 year old Egyptian girl
Nigeria: Senate may ‘bury’ Ahmed Sani Yerima, matter — marrying 13 year old Egyptian girl
— NEXT reports: “The Senate, on Wednesday, officially received petitions brought against Ahmed Sani Yerima, the Zamfara State senator accused of marrying a minor”
— “There are fears that the petition is likely to die a quiet death at the hands of the [Senate] committee.”
— A Mother’s Outcry Against Ahmed Sani Yerima
Pakistan: ‘Hindu girl forced to convert to Islam’
Pakistan: ‘Hindu girl forced to convert to Islam’
— ExpressIndia and Agencies report: “A Hindu girl from Punjab province was kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam and is currently being held in a madrassa, leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney said today.”
— “Burney said his rights organisation, the Ansar Burney Trust International, had learnt that 15-year-old Gajri, the daughter of Mengha Ram, was abducted by a Muslim neighbour from her home at Katchi Mandi, Liaquatpur, in Rahim Yar Khan district on December 21, 2009.”
— “Gajri’s parents later found out that she was beingheld captive in a madrassa or seminary in southern Punjab and that she had been married and converted to Islam, Burney said.”
— “The local administration is ‘refusing to respond to the abduction’ of the girl, who is not being allowed to leave the madrassa or to speak to her parents, he said.”
Northern Ireland: Court stops Muslim girls ‘being sent abroad for marriage’
Northern Ireland: Court stops Muslim girls ‘being sent abroad for marriage’ — to Pakistan
Belfast Telegraph reports:
— “Two Muslim girls have been stopped from travelling abroad in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in Northern Ireland, after a judge feared they were being sent for forced marriages. High Court judge Mr Justice Stephens, sitting in Belfast, imposed a forced marriage protection order for the girls aged 12 and 14. Mr Justice Stephens ruled on behalf of the children, identified as G and D, after the authorities claimed false documents were produced as part of a planned deception by their parents. An unnamed Trust alleged a claim the girls were to be sent for several years’ education in Pakistan was a pretext for the real motive.”
Yemen: Dead Yemeni child bride tied up and raped
Yemen: Dead Yemeni child bride tied up and raped: mum
— Gulf News: “Nijma Ahmad says daughter described how her 23-year-old husband had tied her up and forced himself on her”
Pakistan: 25 Hindu girls abducted every month; forcibly converted to Islam
Pakistan’s The News reports: “25 Hindu girls abducted every month, claims HRCP official”
— “As many as 20 to 25 girls from the Hindu community are abducted every month and converted forcibly, said Amarnath Motumal, an advocate and council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.”
— “‘There is no official record to support this statement, but according to estimates, in Karachi alone, a large number of Hindu girls are being kidnapped on a routine basis,’ Motumal told The News. “The families of the victims are scared to register cases against the influential perpetrators as death threats are issued to them in case they raise their voice. So, the victims choose to remain silent to save their lives,’ he said.”
— “Motumal said the word ‘Hindu’ had become an insult and a kind of abuse for the Hindu community. ‘Almost 90 per cent of the Hindu community comprise poor and impoverished families whose needs and rights have been neglected by the ones at the helms of power,’ he said, adding that since a majority of the people feel helpless, only a few families come to him with their cases.”
— “A former MPA, Bherulal Balani, said that the Hindu girls, especially the ones belonging to scheduled castes, were mostly being abducted from the Lyari area. “Once the girls are converted, they are then sold to other people or are forced to do illegal and immoral activities,” Balani said. He added the perpetrators were very powerful and that was the reason that no cases were being registered against them.”
— “The number of attacks against the Hindu community has increased in the interior Sindh during the last three months. At least nine incidents have been reported which range from forced conversion of Hindus to rape and murders.”
— “In one incident, a 17-year-old girl ‘K’ was gang-raped in Nagarparker area. In another incident, a 15-year-old girl ‘D’ was allegedly abducted from Aaklee village, Tharparkar, and was forced to convert. About 71 families migrated from the village in protest against the girl’s abduction.”
— “Moreover, the Hindu communities were not even spared on the occasion of their joyous festival of Holi as two girls, Anita and Kishni, were kidnapped in Kotri. Moreover, two Hindu boys, Ajay and Sagar, were abducted from another place on the same day.”
— “One Amir Gul was murdered in the beginning of March in Tando Haider, Umerkot, allegedly by a landlord. Later in the month, a boy, Kishan Kumar, was kidnapped from Kandhkot, Jacobabad.”
— “MPA Pitamber Sewani told The News that these acts were being done by certain elements who believe that these minority communities might support the government in the upcoming local bodies’ elections, and these elements want to harass them.”
— “However, President Pakistan Hindu Council Ramesh Kumar criticised the minorities’ representatives for not raising their voice at relevant forums. He said that they were simply representing their respective parties and not the poor people. He added that poor economic conditions had led to an increase in kidnapping cases in the province, especially in the Kandhkot and Jacobabad areas.”
— “Coordinator HRCP Task Force Sindh Dr Ashothama Lohano told The News the according to their one fact-finding report, the most affected persons of violence belonged to Hindu and Christian communities. He said that various reasons have been cited for this. ‘The recent wave of extremism is one reason, which has destroyed the harmony of the land of Sufis. Another reason is the destruction of the agriculture sector and small markets that has led to frustration and lawlessness. Yet another reason is that the elected representatives are working only for the party and not for the community,’ Dr Lohano added.”
— “He further said that minority communities were easy targets as the Hindus were generally hesitant to raise voice against the injustices. ‘When the Hindu communities become politically active, they are blamed for having Indian connections,’ doctor Lohano said.”
Pakistan: 12-Year Old Hindu Girl Abducted, Missing Since December – Nandini; Members of Court Suggested Minor Should Marry Rapist and Convert to Islam
“A 12-year-old Hindu girl missing since December has not been traced by the Karachi police so far.”
“According to Roshni Research and Development Welfare Organisation (RRDWO) President Muhammad Ali, the kidnapped minor Nandini was allegedly abducted by an influential individual named Younas.”
“Despite hectic efforts and meetings with Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Investigation zone West-II, and letters to the concerned authorities in Sindh, the girl has not been recovered and the accused has not been arrested though an FIR No 242/2009 has been registered against him under section 365B in Police Station Super Market Karachi.”
“It is not the only such case as dozens of similar cases are pending and awaiting justice to be dispensed to the victims and their families. It has been observed in such cases that police only provide lip service and do not seriously hunt down the criminals. In case they are arrested, they are released from the courts as the police present a weak case and no potential evidence before the courts.”
“Expressing his concerns and giving reference of the kidnapping case of a 17-year-old Hindu girl, Ali said the Asian Human Rights Commission has also expressed its serious concern that four men, who allegedly assisted on January 24, 2010 in the kidnapping and rape of the girl have been granted pre-arrest bail by a session court. Rape is a non-bail able offense in Pakistan and this is against criminal procedure and the law, he said.”
“Instead of giving justice to the victim’s family, the police later arrested the victim’s father on a false offense, and have obstructed attempts by the family to file an FIR and obtain a medical report, disclosed the RRDWP president.”
“Moreover, members of an illegal tribal court have reportedly proposed that the victim should marry her rapist and convert to Islam. Whereas, the victim has threatened public self-immolation if the perpetrators are not arrested and brought to justice by the authorities, he said.”
“‘Not arresting the rapists and rather forcing a Hindu girl, who is a rape victim, to convert to Islam and be the wife of the culprit could be double trauma for the victim. It is another form of further victimising a woman,’ said Ali.”
“He appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice of the gross human rights violations of the poor and the marginalised minorities in the Sindh province at the hands of police and lower judiciary, who are predominantly influenced by the feudal and local elite.”
“Ali said the Sindh police reportedly support perpetrators instead of victims. The organisation undertakes a project Roshni Helpline that rescues and tracks down missing children.”
“He demanded the Sindh police authorities instead of just pleasing feudal lords and political influential elite, they should give protection to the poor and the marginalised communities.”
Pakistan: Police turn blind eye to rampant kidnapping and rape of Hindu girls in Pak’s Sindh province
“A 12-year-old Hindu girl, Nandini, is still missing as police officials have failed to recover her even after four months of her being allegedly picked up by an influential individual of the city.”
“Officials have no information regarding Nandini’s whereabouts, who was kidnapped in December last year, and the accused named Younis has not been arrested despite the fact that there is a first information report (FIR) registered against him.”
“It is not an isolated case where Hindu families have been left with little choice than to lament over their fate, with no help in sight from the authorities.”
“Several Hindu families, which are at the receiving end of the government’s apathy, are awaiting justice for years but there’s no one to listen to their plight.”
“According to Roshni Research and Development Welfare Organisation (RRDWO), a non-government organisation (NGO), a research has shown in majority of cases involving the minority community, police only provide lip service and do not seriously hunt down the criminals.”