Hindu sisters not forcibly converted: Pak HC

A Pakistani High Court on Thursday declared that the two Hindu sisters from the country's Sindh province were not forcibly converted to Islam.

The court permitted them to reunite with their husbands.

According to Dawn, the two girls, Raveena (13) and Reena (15) and their spouses had filed a petition in the Islamabad High court on March 25, against the alleged harassment by the police.

In their plea, the girls maintained that they willfully converted to Islam.

The incident came to light after a video went viral on social media, showing the girls' father and brother claiming the two girls were abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.

In a separate video, however, the girls claimed that they accepted Islam out of their own free will, as they were impressed by its teachings.

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah had constituted a five-member committee to probe the matter.

During an earlier hearing, the court had directed the state to take over the custody of two girls and ensure their safety. It also claimed that the story of their forcible conversion was 'fabricated'.

Earlier, India had shared its concerns through an official note to the Pakistan Foreign Officer over the incident.

Pakistan human rights activists had also claimed that the matter was another case of forced conversion and abduction, which is becoming increasingly common in the southern region of Sindh.