Another Girl, Abduction, Forced Conversion, Child Marriage

Her Name is Arzoo Raja. She is 13. She belongs to a religious minority group in Pakistan. On October 13, 2020, Arzoo was abducted and this was the end of her life as she knew it. Earlier in the year, I wrote about other Pakistani religious minority girls sharing the same fate. Myra Shehbaz, 14 at the time of abduction. Huma Younus, 14 at the time of abduction. Mehwish, 14. Sana John, 13. Farzana and Sehrish, aged 14 and 16 respectively. Maria Sarfraz, 11. And the list goes on. Indeed, according to the Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP), a human rights organization in the country, around 1,000 Christian and Hindu women and girls are kidnapped each year, forced to convert and marry Muslim men. The victims are usually between the ages of 12 and 25. Despite these shocking statistics, the number of victims may be even higher as many cases remain unreported, often due to the girls’ families’ limited financial means. Read Full Article »