Hindus protest against girl’s alleged kidnapping

A large number of Hindu Maheshwari community members on Sunday held a protest outside the Karachi Press Club against the alleged kidnapping of a girl belonging to their community.

According to the protesters, 16-year-old Vidiya Rajesh has been missing from the Maripur Grex area since May 20. They carried placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the alleged kidnapping of girls from minority communities. They shouted slogans for the protection of their community’s women.

“The community believes that Vidiya has been kidnapped, and rise in such incidents has increased the sense of insecurity among the minority community,” said Seema Maheshwari, a community leader and a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

She said that law enforcement agencies had failed to trace the whereabouts of Vidiya despite the passage of one and a half months. Noted community leaders and civil society activists Porho, Mohan Lal Maheshwari, Nasir Mansoor and Najam Maheshwari also addressed the protesters.

On Friday, a large number of members of the Hindu community had participated in a protest outside the press club against the increasing alleged incidents of kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls. The protest was organised by the Pakistan Hindu Council, a Hindu rights body, and attended by a large number of people, including parliamentarians, civil society activists and community leaders.