a 17yo girl went to meet a friend on friday night. according to delhi police, he allegedly raped her, then called 3 friends who also assaulted her. they later stabbed her and tried to hide her body in a field.
her body was found on sunday by locals. 4 people have been arrested, one adult and 3 minors aged 16-17.
The United Nations has raised fresh concerns over what it described as continued and widespread patterns of abduction and forced religious conversion through marriage affecting women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan, warning that impunity is allowing the practice to persist.
In a statement, UN experts said the issue remains systemic, with Hindu and Christian girls accounting for the majority of reported cases. According to their assessment, around 75 per cent of victims in 2025 were Hindu and 25 per cent Christian, with nearly 80 per cent of incidents reported from Sindh province. Adolescent girls aged between 14 and 18 were identified as particularly vulnerable, though some victims were even younger.
“Any change of religion or belief must be genuinely free from coercion, and marriage must be based on full and free consent, which is not legally possible when the victim is a child,” the experts said.
They added that victims often face physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, social stigma and long-term psychological trauma. The experts warned that the scale and persistence of such cases point to deeper structural issues, including discrimination against non-Muslim communities, gender inequality, poverty and lack of accountability.
“These women and girls endure a continuous sense of terror, face coercion and are deprived of their freedom of religion or belief and autonomy under patriarchal and political pressures. This must stop,” the experts said.
The UN experts urged Pakistan to take urgent legal and institutional measures, including raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 across all provinces, criminalising forced religious conversion as a distinct offence and strengthening enforcement of laws related to human trafficking and sexual violence.
They also expressed concern that law enforcement agencies often fail to respond effectively to complaints, with delays in investigations and inadequate verification of victims’ ages.
“We are deeply concerned that law enforcement authorities often dismiss complaints lodged by victims’ families, fail to investigate or prosecute forced conversions in a timely manner, or neglect to properly assess the age of victims,” the experts said.
The experts called for prompt, impartial investigations into all cases and urged authorities to ensure accountability. They also recommended comprehensive support for survivors, including safe shelters, legal assistance, psychological counselling and reintegration programmes.
“Freedom of religion or belief and equality must be ensured for all without discrimination,” the experts said.