Woman returns to parents after court appearance in Pakistan

A court in Pakistan on Tuesday allowed a 21-year-old Hindu woman to return to her parents after she told the magistrate that she wished to go home of her own free will, days after her family alleged that she had been abducted and pressured to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man, news agency PTI reported.

Shirimati Reeta, a resident of Rana Rajput Colony in Khipro tehsil of Sindh’s Sanghar district, went missing from her hometown last week, according to a complaint filed by her brother Ravi Shankar. He alleged 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, some 80 kms from Lahore, where she was allegedly pressured to convert to Islam and marry Nazeer Hussain, who was already married.

Punjab Police later recovered Reeta and produced her before a judicial magistrate on Monday. The investigating officer sought 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 and told the court that Reeta wanted to return home with her brother, who was present in court, a court official said. The magistrate then asked Reeta to record her statement under oath.

“In her statement, Reeta said that she wanted to return to her parents’ home of her own free will,” the official said. The court subsequently allowed Reeta to leave with her brother and made him responsible for her safe custody and transportation back to the family home in Sanghar.