Punjab Gujranwala🇵🇰: A judicial magistrate in Gujranwala has allowed a 21-year-old Hindu woman from Sindh’s Sanghar district to return to her family after rejecting a police request to place her in a Dar-ul-Aman (shelter home) for “safe custody.”
The woman, identified in court reports as Shirimati Reeta, daughter of Wishan Das, is a resident of Rana Rajput Colony in Khipro tehsil of Sanghar district. She had gone missing from her hometown, prompting her brother, Ravi Shankar, to lodge a complaint with Sanghar police.
According to the complaint, CCTV footage from the family’s residence allegedly showed unidentified individuals taking Reeta away during the night of August 23-24, along with valuables and mobile phones. A case was subsequently registered by Sanghar police.
Family alleges abduction and forced conversion
Reeta’s family alleged that she was taken from Sanghar to Gujranwala, where she was allegedly pressured to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man.
Reports identify the man as Nazeer Hussain, while another account refers to him as Anas Nazir. The available reports say he was already married.
The allegations have not been established by a court, and the circumstances surrounding Reeta’s disappearance, alleged conversion and marriage remain subject to investigation.
Following the registration of the case, the Sindh Home Department contacted authorities in Punjab and sought assistance in locating the woman.
Punjab police subsequently recovered Reeta from the Eminabad area of Gujranwala and produced her before a judicial magistrate.
Police seek shelter-home custody
During the proceedings, the investigating officer requested that Reeta be sent to Dar-ul-Aman, arguing that she was unwilling to return to her parents.
Her lawyers, Asad Jamal and Kheta Ram, opposed the police request. They told the court that Reeta wanted to return to her family and was prepared to record her statement before the magistrate.
Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Suleman ordered that Reeta’s statement be recorded directly.
In her statement on oath, Reeta told the court that she wished to return to her parents’ home with her brother of her own free will and consent. She also stated that she was not facing any threat to her life and that she was under no pressure while giving the statement.
Court rejects police request
In light of her statement, the magistrate rejected the police application seeking her placement in Dar-ul-Aman.
The court allowed Reeta to leave with her brother Kuldeep Kumar, making him responsible for her safe custody and transportation to the family home in Sanghar.
Personnel from Sanghar police were also present during the proceedings.
The ruling means that, at this stage, the court has relied on Reeta’s own statement regarding where she wished to go rather than placing her in a shelter home.
Human trafficking allegation remains unverified
Some social-media posts circulating about the case have alleged that the man involved is connected to a human-trafficking network. However, the credible reports reviewed for this story do not independently establish that allegation.
Any claim linking an individual to a trafficking network should therefore be treated as an allegation unless confirmed by police, an investigation, or a court record.
The case highlights the complex legal and social issues that can arise when allegations of abduction, religious conversion and marriage involve members of a religious minority. The investigation into the original disappearance and the allegations made by the family remains separate from the magistrate’s decision to allow Reeta to return home.
The allegations of abduction, coercion, forced conversion and forced marriage have not been proven in court.
