Tag: forced marriage

  • Teenager murders cousin after she refuses to marry him; later commits suicide

    Teenager murders cousin after she refuses to marry him; later commits suicide

    A young man in Islamabad shot his female cousin dead before taking his own life in the Soan area of Khanna police station on Monday.

    The girl, a first-year student in college, had refused the boy’s marriage proposal multiple times, stating that her focus was on her studies. The family also had categorically refused to give her hand in marriage to her cousin.

    As per police reports, upon rejection, Akash barged into the house of the girl and opened fire at his cousin who was studying in her room, killing her on the spot.

    Later, he turned the gun on himself and ended his life with a bullet to the head.

    A report by Iftikhar Chaudhry published in the Express Tribune states that police handed the bodies over to relatives after examination while a report of the incident was registered and further investigation was underway.

  • Italy: Pakistani parents sentenced to life-imprisonment for killing daughter

    Italy: Pakistani parents sentenced to life-imprisonment for killing daughter

    A Pakistani couple was sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court on Tuesday for the 2021 murder of their daughter after she refused an arranged marriage.

    Saman Abbas, 18, was living in Novellara near Bologna when she disappeared in May 2021, having rejected the previous year her family’s demand that she marry a cousin in Pakistan.

    A tribunal in Reggio Emilia in central Italy ruled that the parents ordered the murder and that an uncle had strangled his niece.

    The uncle was sentenced to 14 years after accepting a plea bargain, while two cousins were acquitted in an affair that shocked the country.

    Abbas had denounced her parents to the police and social workers placed her in a shelter in November 2020.

    But she visited her family in April 2021, planning to pick up her passport and start a new life with her boyfriend, whom her family disapproved of.

    She disappeared soon after, and police, alerted by the boyfriend, raided the family home in May but the parents had already left for Pakistan.

    The young woman was probably killed the night of April 30 to May 1, according to surveillance camera footage showing five people leaving the family home with shovels, crowbars and buckets, before returning two and a half hours later.

    A year later Abbas’s body was found in an abandoned farmhouse with a broken neck.

    Her brother told police that he had overheard his father talking about the murder and that it was the uncle who had killed his sister.

    The father, Shabbar Abbas, was arrested in Pakistan and extradited to Italy in August 2023.

    The uncle, Danish Hasnain, was turned over by French authorities while the cousins were arrested in Spain.

    The four men were present at the trial, but the mother, Nazia Shaheen, is still a fugitive.

  • Pakistani film ‘Hum-Saya’ receives Best Short Documentary award at Venice Film Festival

    Pakistani film ‘Hum-Saya’ receives Best Short Documentary award at Venice Film Festival

    Director Dawood Murad’s venture ‘Hum-Saya’, produced by the Centre For Social Justice, has received the prestigious award for ‘Best Short Documentary on Human Rights’ at the Venice Intercultural Festival 2023. The film focuses on the story of two girls who are abducted, forcibly converted and then married off, while also exploring the turmoil their families undergo.

    In an Instagram post, the director revealed that the film will also be screened in Venice, Italy, on June 23 and later at Kellogg College, Oxford, on June 16.

    A recent report compiled by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan found that in the year 2021, at least 60 cases of forced conversions were reported in the media, out of which 70% of the girls were under the age of 18 and were from Sindh.

    The data also revealed that blasphemy cases were on the rise in the country. In 2021 there were 585 blasphemy cases registered in Punjab, out of which 16 were filed against the Ahmadi community.

  • TRIGGER WARNING: Teenage girl murdered by aunt for refusing to marry her son

    A teenage orphaned girl has been murdered by her aunt for refusing to marry her son, Sher Ali in Alpuri district, Muzzafargarh.

    According to the FIR registered on Sunday, Muslimah, 16, was living with her maternal aunt after her father went missing from a coal mine years ago, and her mother re-married a man from the Mingora area of Swat.

    The complaint, Muslimah’s uncle Wazir Khan, said that his niece was being pressurized by her aunt to marry her 22-years-old son. However, she had refused because she wasn’t ready to take such a decision. She was poisoned to death by her aunt.

    According to Dawn, police officials said that the girl had been buried and the aunt’s family had hidden the truth by declaring Muslimah’s death a natural one. But her father’s relatives had refused to accept the explanation and demanded an autopsy of the body.

    In the FIR filed at the Alpuri police station, Sher Ali and his father Hamil Kareem have also been named as culprits in the murder.

  • 2 underaged girls married off by jigra as tribal fine in Jacobabad

    A jirga in Thull, Jacobabad decided to marry off two minor girls as punishment for their parents’ elopment. According to Aaj News, both the girls are seven years old.

    The jirga had decided on the case of Hajira Mangi, a 30-years-old widow and mother, had eloped with a man, Dadu Mangi, who was also married and had daughters. They were accused of committing karo kari.

    In order to appease Hajira’s family who said that she had gotten married without their permission, village head Zukfiqar Khan Sarqi was asked to step in and resolve the issue. It was decided that both Hajira’s and Dadu’s daughters from their previous marriages would be wedded off to Hajira’s brothers. Furthermore, the couple were ordered to pay Rs 200,000 as a fine. They paid Rs 50,000 and promised to pay the rest in installments.

    According to Aaj News, although jirgas were banned by the Supreme Court in 2019, there has not been a police case filed against the village head or the family for this forced marriage.

  • Censor Board bans documentary ‘My Mother’s Daughter’ about forced religious conversion

    Censor Board bans documentary ‘My Mother’s Daughter’ about forced religious conversion

    Filmmakers Ahmen Khawaja and Mariam Khan took to their social media accounts to call out Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors for censoring their short documentary ‘My Mother’s Documentary’ which was due to screen at the Women International Film Festival.
    The documentary explores the issue of forced religious conversions by following the life of a minor christian girl who was abducted and forcibly married to a middle-aged man.
    Khan shared the letter sent by the censor board which had based its reasons for censoring the film by calling it “propaganda” as well as for highlighting “wrong values” which are “against the Pakistani culture and society.”

    Read Khan’s full statement here:

    “On International Women’s Day we found out that Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors in Islamabad (CBFC) has decided to censor our short documentary My Mother’s Daughter and is not allowing it to screen this weekend at the @womenthroughfilm film festival.

    The film follows the real story of a minor Christian girl in Faisalabad who is abducted by a middle aged man, forcefully married to him and converted to Islam. Up to 1,000 young girls are forcefully converted every year (1), and to call this propaganda is a gross injustice to their plight and stories. We spent months verifying the case and going to court hearings with the survivor to ensure the utmost authenticity in the film. The censor board seems to be of the view that our film is ‘propaganda that is trying to highlight wrong values that go against the culture in Pakistan’. Upon speaking directly with the Chairperson, we were told “the full board review can’t be done before the festival because the office is being renovated”. Please help spread the word because women’s stories deserve to be told.”

    ‘My Mother’s Daughter’ had also won the Short Documentary Award at the DC South Asian Film Festival last year.

  • Pakistani movie ‘The Losing Side’ gets ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Cannes Film Festival

    Pakistani movie ‘The Losing Side’ gets ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Cannes Film Festival

    Pakistani film The Losing Side has received the ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Javed Sharif, the film explores the issue of forced conversions in Sindh by interviewing four victims of forced conversion marriages.

    In an interview with Dawn, Sharif said that he was inspired to make this film after wanting to see how minorities are preserving their heritage and culture. He elaborated that religious minorities like Hindu and Christians in Sindh face the issue of religious conversion, which can also be by choice but in most cases they are forced when young girls are kidnapped and married to Muslim men.

    The purpose of these awards, as Sharif told Dawn, was to provide more space for sensitive issues in mainstream media

    “I believe this award is more meaningful as it will give space to a sensitive issue in the mainstream media.’

    He also hoped that in filming these issues, their can be presented a ‘narrative of resistance.’

    In an Instagram post, Sharif announced to his followers that The Losing Side had been given the ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award and thanked all of his team members who had worked hard to ensure that the project would become a success.

    You can watch the full trailer here:

  • Forced conversions are against the spirit of the constitution 

    On Wednesday, a parliamentary committee rejected the anti-forced conversion bill after the Ministry of Religious Affairs opposed the proposed law. According to Dawn, Religious Affairs Minister Noor-ul-Haq Qadri said the “environment is unfavourable” for formulating a law against forced conversions and warned that forming a law on forced conversions would “create further problems for minorities” as they will be made more vulnerable. He also said the proposed law will deteriorate peace in the country.

    It is unfortunate that the minister thinks such a law will lead to problems and will affect peace in the country. Minorities in Pakistan make up a very small number as more than 96 per cent population of the country is Muslim. So why would a bill that is against forced conversions, something that our religion also does not allow, make the minorities vulnerable? The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees that the rights of the minorities would be fully protected. Forced conversions are against the spirit of the Constitution as well as our religious teachings. 

    The Joint Action Committee for People’s Rights (JAC), a collection of  37 human rights groups, in an open letter has urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take legal as well as administrative measures to protect minorities, especially the under age girls from forced conversions and marriages. The letter has also urged PM Khan to ensure the approval of the draft bill for timely legislation. The JAC also expressed its concern on the statements of the Minister for Religious Affairs on the draft bill to curb forced conversions, recalling that such statements are not only against the spirit of the Constitution, judgments of the Supreme Court of Pakistan but are also in contradiction with the stand taken by the PM against forced conversion of minority groups in Pakistan.

    Hopefully, the government will address this issue soon. We know that the majority of these forced conversions are underage girls from minority communities. Such practices should not be condoned by the government. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had envisioned a Pakistan where the minorities would feel safe. We should not let our founding father down. 

  • Teenage Christian bride Arzoo Raja recovered, alleged husband detained

    Teenage Christian bride Arzoo Raja recovered, alleged husband detained

    The Karachi police have recovered 13-year-old Christian girl Arzoo Raja and arrested the main accused Ali Azhar, who had allegedly abducted and married her after converting her to Islam.

    Newsday Pakistan reported that the teenager will be sent to a Darul Aman (women’s shelter) as per the order of the Sindh High Court, which had directed police to recover Arzoo and present her in court on Nov 5.

    On Monday, the Sindh High Court had asked the police to recover and produce Arzoo Raja in the court on Nov 5.

    The CASE:

    On Oct 27, a two-member bench of SHC had admitted a petition filed on behalf of Arzoo Raja that claimed that she was 18 years old and had married Ali Azhar and converted to Islam with her free will.

    The petition also sought protection against alleged harassment of the girl’s family. Underage girls in such cases in Pakistan come under intense pressure, including threats to them and their families, to give false statements in court.

    Azhar allegedly abducted Arzoo in Karachi’s Muhalla Railway Colony West Camp Road locality on Oct. 13, according to the family, which registered a kidnapping case on the same day. On Oct. 15 police summoned them to the local station and showed them documents claiming that Arzoo was 18 years old and had willingly converted to Islam after marrying Azhar.

  • Court orders police to recover teenage Christian bride Arzoo Raja

    Court orders police to recover teenage Christian bride Arzoo Raja

    The Sindh High Court has asked the Karachi police to recover and produce Arzoo Raja — a teenage Christian girl allegedly abducted and forced to marry a man thrice her age after conversion to Islam– in the court on Nov 5.

    Sindh Chief Minister’s spokesperson Murtaza Wahab confirmed this development. He said the high court ordered the police to recover the teenage girl in response to an application filed by the SHC. The girl is supposed to located within five days and then moved to a shelter home, he tweeted.

    The CASE:

    On Oct 27, a two-member bench of SHC had admitted a petition filed on behalf of Arzoo Raja that claimed that she was 18 years old and had married Ali Azhar and converted to Islam with her free will, according to a report in Newsday Pakistan.

    The petition also sought protection against alleged harassment of the girl’s family. Underage girls in such cases in Pakistan come under intense pressure, including threats to them and their families, to give false statements in court.

    Azhar allegedly abducted Arzoo in Karachi’s Muhalla Railway Colony West Camp Road locality on Oct. 13, according to the family, which registered a kidnapping case on the same day. On Oct. 15 police summoned them to the local station and showed them documents claiming that Arzoo was 18 years old and had willingly converted to Islam after marrying Azhar.