There was a new twist in the tale of Rinkle Kumari alias Bibi Faryal Shah on Sunday as the young woman, whose relatives claim she was abducted and forced to convert to Islam from Hinduism before her marriage to a Muslim man, said at a press conference that she never met her husband Naveed Shah before her conversion.
Previously, Kumari had said on several occasions that she loved Shah and that is why she married him.
Kumari is to be produced before the Sindh High Court on Monday (today) in the case of her alleged kidnapping.
However, she and her husband addressed a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, where a large number of supporters of the Pirs of Bharchundi Sharif were also present.
Kumari said she was inspired by the teachings of Islam that she came to know about through her friends and television programmes and she converted after understanding the religion. But now, she claimed, her parents were forcing her to become a Hindu again.
During the press conference, the young woman from Mirpur Mathelo in Ghotki district was bombarded with questions by reporters and she was not able to name any Islamic book she had read so far.
Replying to a query, Kumari said she was moved by verses from Surah Ikhlas in the Holy Quran, but when she was asked to recite them along with their translation, she remained silent.
Kumari said that after her conversion, she called up the Pirs of Bharchundi and asked them to support her. When asked how she obtained their telephone number, she said one of her friends gave it to her.
She said she did not know Shah before her conversion but her parents have claimed in an FIR that he kidnapped her with the help of his friends.
“I am now married to Naveed and I will request the court to send me with my husband instead of sending me to a shelter home,” she said.
After the press conference ended, many reporters wanted to talk to her separately, but she was immediately taken to a car that was escorted by a police van.
A new (w)Rinkle in the tale!
