UN rights experts deplore abductions, forced marriages and conversions of girls from Pakistan’s religious minorities.

Forced conversions of kidnapped Hindu girls and subsequent marriages to Muslim men — in most cases to abductors — are routine in southern Sindh province, hosting about 90 percent of the minority community.

The group of around 12 independent U.N rights experts includes the special rapporteurs on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, on violence against women and on minority issues, and on contemporary forms of slavery.

“We are deeply troubled to hear that girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to locations far from their homes, made to marry men sometimes twice their age, and coerced to convert to Islam, all in violation of international human rights law,” the statement said.

The UN experts’ statement came as activists from Pakistan’s Hindu and Christian communities continue to report abductions and forced conversions of young women in the Muslim majority nation.

Every year, dozens of girls – mostly teenagers – from the Hindu community mainly in the southern province of Sindh fall victim to this practice, facilitated by religious leaders and groups, according to activists.

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