A Pakistani court on Tuesday allowed a 21-year-old Hindu woman to return to her parents after she told a magistrate that she wanted to go home of her own free will. The decision came days after her family alleged that she had been abducted, pressured to convert to Islam and forced to marry a Muslim man, PTI reported.
Shirimati Reeta, from Rana Rajput Colony in Khipro tehsil of Sindh’s Sanghar district, reportedly went missing from her hometown last week. Her brother, Ravi Shankar, subsequently filed a complaint alleging that CCTV footage showed unidentified people taking Reeta from the family home along with valuables and mobile phones on August 24.
According to the complaint, Reeta was taken to Gujranwala in Punjab, around 80 kilometres from Lahore, where she was allegedly pressured to convert to Islam and marry Nazeer Hussain, a Muslim man who was already married.
‘Want to return home’
Punjab Police later recovered Reeta and produced her before a judicial magistrate on Monday. The investigating officer asked the court to place her in Darul Aman, a state-run shelter, claiming that she was unwilling to return to her parents.
Her lawyers, Asad Jamal and Kheta Ram, opposed the request, telling the court that Reeta wanted to return home with her brother, who was present during the proceedings.
The magistrate then asked Reeta to record her statement under oath. According to a court official, she told the court that she wished to return to her parents’ home of her own free will.
The court subsequently permitted Reeta to leave with her brother and placed him responsible for her safe custody and transportation back to the family home in Sanghar.
