Family, activists call for recovery of Hindu girl who went missing in Pakistan’s Sindh in 2021

KARACHI: The family of Priya Kumari, a Hindu girl who went missing in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province in 2021, and rights activists have called on provincial authorities to ensure her release and sought a clear deadline in this regard.
Seven-year-old Kumari went missing in Sindh’s Sukkur on August 19, 2021. While her family suspects no one, the southern Pakistani province has previously reported cases of forced conversions and marriage of Hindu girls, with those from poor families and low castes largely targeted.
The Minority Rights March, Aurat March, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Women Democratic Front, Priya Kumari Bazyabi Committee and other civil society organizations this week held a protest in Sindh’s provincial capital of Karachi to demand her release.
On Saturday, Luke Victor, a human rights defender, led a delegation, comprising Kumari’s parents, Raj Kumar and Reena Kumari, and other activists, to meet with Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar. They said the minister claimed Kumari was alive but offered no solid assurance for her release.
“While we welcome the details and progress shared by the JIT (joint investigation team) after three years [of Kumari’s abduction], we expect the JIT and the Sindh Home Minister to be able to provide more than just a vague promise of ‘soon’ and to commit to a specific date by which they expect to recover Priya safely,” the protest organizers said in a statement on Saturday.
“Open-ended discussions and vague commitments have occurred too many times without any results and have only eroded the trust once placed in the Sindh Police, which can only be restored with the safe recovery of Priya Kumari without further delay.”
During the meeting on Saturday, Kumari’s parents submitted a written application to the Sindh home minister for their daughter’s recovery and a transparent investigation into her abduction.
“There are hopes. The child is alive, and we have evidence,” the minister is heard saying in a video of the meeting.
“I cannot commit regarding the timeframe. She could be found tomorrow or within a week. We are trying to recover her soon,” he says, when asked for an assurance.
Luke, who led the delegation to the meeting, said on Sunday the “vague” statement suggested the authorities were either “lying or unwilling to act.”
“They are either lying about having traced Priya Kumari or they are unable to take action against the culprit, who could be influential,” he said.