Pak court allows Hindu woman to return home after alleged forced conversion, marriage

A Pakistani court has granted permission for a 21-year-old Hindu woman to return home after she expressed her desire to go back of her own accord, following allegations of abduction and forced conversion to Islam, PTI reported. Shirimati Reeta, who resides in Rana Rajput Colony in Khipro tehsil of Sindh’s Sanghar district, has been missing since last week, according to a complaint filed by her brother, Ravi Shankar.

CCTV footage allegedly shows unidentified individuals taking Reeta from their home along with valuables and mobile phones on August 24. The family believes that Reeta was taken to Gujranwala in Punjab, around 80 kilometers from Lahore, where she was allegedly coerced into converting to Islam and marrying Nazeer Hussain, who was already married.

Punjab Police subsequently recovered Reeta and presented her before a magistrate on Monday. The investigating officer sought to have her placed in Darul Aman, a state-run shelter, claiming that she was unwilling to return to her parents. However, her lawyers, Asad Jamal and Kheta Ram, argued that Reeta wished to return with her brother, who was present in court.

The magistrate then asked Reeta to provide a sworn statement, which she confirmed that she desired to return to her parents' home of her own free will. The court subsequently permitted Reeta to leave with her brother and appointed him to ensure her safe transportation back to their family home in Sanghar.