“While scrolling through my social media feed, my eyes fixed upon the troubled reflection of innocent angel Sunita Masih. She was staring back at me with helpless orbs. Her eyes betrayed the discomfort of humiliation and, without even uttering a single syllable, she proclaimed the tale of injustice through her misery-laced expression” reports Anee Muskan from Pakistan. Sunita, a 14-year-old Christian girl, was raped, molested, beaten and subjected to bullying in which her head was shaved by the culprits.
The crisis we are facing regarding forced conversion is highlighted by this story. The good fruits are the innocent girls born with the fate of being a minority in Pakistan. The poisonous weeds are the extremists living in our society.
A report by the Centre for Social Justice cited 162 allegations of forced conversion between 2013 and 2019. This figure merely covers reported cases; there are so many other cases that barely receive the limelight of sympathy and mercy.
Last year one case that actually received media attention was that of Maria Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Christian girl who was abducted and raped. To eradicate the stains of sexual abuse, the girl was forcefully converted and with the knot of marriage the whole dilemma of sexual abuse and abduction was erased.