The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the two girls, who according to their families had been forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslims, be sent to a shelter home in Karachi and also directed the Sindh Police to reproduce them before the court on April 18. A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez was hearing an application filed by one Dr Ramesh Kumar.
Pakistan Hindu Council Patron-in-Chief Dr Ramesh Kumar on March 8 complained to the Supreme Court that three females of the Hindu community including Rinkle Kumari, daughter of Nandlal (Mirpur Mathello) and Dr Lata, daughter of Dr Ramesh (Jacobabad) were kidnapped from CPSP Karachi, while Pooja Devi (Larkana) had been forcibly abducted. He had alleged that the people of the Hindu community were being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam, adding that the entire Hindu community felt insecure, as a result whereof they had lodged a protest in Karachi. He requested the court to issue necessary directions to the provincial administration for recovery and production of these girls. On the last hearing, the court had directed the Sindh inspector general of police to take all necessary steps for the recovery of the females and produce them before the court on March 26. On Monday, the Sindh police produced before the court two women including Rinkle, now Faryal and Dr Lata, now Hafsa. Dr Ramesh Kumar told the court that correct name of Pooja Devi was Asha.
When the court summoned Rinkle, now Faryal, to record her statement, she could not express herself freely. The chief justice said Faryal appeared to be under pressure and was hesitant to talk. He then ordered everybody present in the courtroom to go outside, so that the court could record the girls’ statements in a free environment.
After sometime, when all the people were called back to courtroom, the chief justice said that Faryal, who first claimed to have married on her own will, met her parents and then decided to go with her mother.
The chief justice observed that there was no doubt that the girls had embraced Islam and gotten married and had been living with their husbands.
The court said being adults, both women must freely decide about their better future and directed the Sindh Police to take back them back to shelter home and produce them before the court on April 18. Dr Khalid Ranjha, counsel for Hafsa’s husband, read out a statement by her, saying that she had contracted marriage with Nadir with her free will and later converted to Islam. He said now they were in the court’s parental jurisdiction.
The chief justice however observed that it was not the issue of the court, but an issue of weak segment of society. “These are our children and we have to protect them,” the chief justice said.
Mujeeb Pirzada, counsel for parents of Faryal’s husband, told the court that instead of shifting them to a Karachi shelter home, they should be kept in Rawalpindi. The chief justice however said they should be sent back to the shelter home.
During the hearing, Dr Ramesh Kumar, Hafsa’s father started crying, pleading that “our child wants to come with us… allow her to go with us”. Hafsa, who was sitting with the police in the courtroom also tried to rise up and said she wanted to go with her parents. Later, the court adjourned the hearing until April 18, directing that the girls be kept at shelter home in Karachi until the court took its decision.
