HINDU MINOR GIRL GANG RAPED AMID DEVASTATING FLOODS IN SINDH

During the devastating floods in Pakistan’s Sindh province, a Hindu minor girl was gang raped. She was informed by Bhagwanti alias Nikki (13 years), a resident of Shahdadpur village in the Sanghar district of Sindh, that when she was going to the market (31.08.2022) to buy vegetables, Khalid Mashi and Barshek Mashi of the same area lured her to a deserted place outside the village, with an offer of free ration, and then gang-raped her by giving her intoxicants, reported local media. The Voice of Pakistan Minority, an NGO working for minorities in Pakistan, also confirmed the grisly incident. 

The police had not registered a report until 01.09.2022 (1600 hrs PST) in this regard. The family members and other residents of the village have warned of a strong protest against the district administration if the culprits are not booked and punished. In the flood-affected areas of Pakistan, especially Sindh and Balochistan, where on the one hand, several organisations from the minority communities, including Hindus and Sikhs, are providing rations, medicine, and other relief materials, many from the Muslim community are taking advantage of the economically weaker sections of the Hindu and Sikh communities by subjecting their female members, irrespective of age, to sexual and violent physical assault, reported the local media. 

There are also unconfirmed reports of the gang rape (01.09.2022) of two Hindu women in the flood-affected areas of the Umarkot district on the pretext of giving rations and other assistance. 

Four days ago, shocking news came from the Sindh province of Pakistan. A video of a girl was shared on social media, in which it was said that an eight-year-old Hindu girl was gang-raped in the Umarkot area and both her eyes were blown off. The thugs had snatched the girl’s entire face and left her nearly dead. It was said that the girl was admitted to the government hospital in Umerkot in a very critical condition, reported the local media. 

Last week, a 21-year-old American vlogger and social media activist was gang-raped in Pakistan’s Punjab province. 

According to a report, 157 women were kidnapped, 112 were physically assaulted, and 91 were raped across Pakistan in June. 

The Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC) compiled a report that pointed out a growing trend in violence against women in Pakistan along with the increasing domestic violence cases in the country, the Dawn Newspaper reported.