Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has instructed Punjab Chief Minister to recover the two minor Hindu girls who were forcibly married and reportedly taken to Rahim Yar Khan city of the province, a senior federal minister said on Sunday.
According to reports, the two minor Hindu sisters -- 13-year-old Raveena and 15-year-old Reena -- were allegedly kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and then married in Pakistan's Sindh province, triggering protests by the minority community.
In a Twitter post in Urdu on Sunday, Information Minister Chaudhry said that the prime minister has asked the Sindh chief minister to look into reports that the girls in question have been taken to Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued instructions to Punjab CM that he must immediately look into the matter of the Hindu girls who were abducted from Sindh and are reportedly in Rahim Yar Khan. PM has instructed that if this is the case, the girls must immediately be recovered," Chaudhary said.
"PM has also instructed Sindh and Punjab governments to formulate a joint strategy on the matter in order to avert such incidents in the future," he said.
Last year, Khan during his election campaign had said his party's agenda was to uplift the various religious groups across Pakistan and said they would take effective measures to prevent forced marriages of Hindu girls.
In Pakistan, the minorities are the white in our flag, all colours are dear to us and to protect our flag is our responsibility and obligation," Chaudhary added.
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On Saturday, Chaudhry said that the government had taken notice of reports of the forced conversion and underage marriages of the two girls.
The two girls were allegedly kidnapped by a group of "influential" men from their home in Ghotki district on the eve of Holi.
Soon after the kidnapping, a video went viral in which a cleric was purportedly shown soleminising the Nikah (marriage) of the two girls.
Later another video surfaced in which the two sisters claimed they embraced Islam themselves and no one forced them to covert or get married.
The Hindu community in Pakistan has carried out massive demonstrations calling for strict action to be taken against those responsible, while reminding Prime Minister Imran Khan of his promises to the minorities of the country.
Following the incident, an FIR was filed by the girls' brother, alleging that their father had an altercation with the accused sometime ago and on the eve of Holi they armed with pistols forcibly entered their home and took the sisters away.
A Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Nand Kumar Goklani, who had initially moved a bill against forced conversions, urged the government to get the law passed immediately.
We demand the government to take up my bill and get it passed without any delay, he said.
Goklani said: "The fact that the two girls were underage confirmed it was a crime and they couldn't show free will on getting married or conversion to Islam".
"One of the accused persons has been arrested, while the police were conducting raids to arrest the others," a senior police official of Ghotki district said.
(With PTI inputs)
