Reports of the abduction and forced marriage of sisters Reena and Raveena, who were initially believed to be aged 14 and 16, from Pakistan's northern Sindh province first emerged at the weekend as the Hindu community celebrated the festival of Holi.
Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj then became embroiled in a social media spat with Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhury over the incident.
Ms Swaraj asked the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan to send her a report on the alleged abduction and forced conversion to Islam.
Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Prabhu Dayal told SBS Hindi, “It’s not unusual for world leaders to remind other countries about human rights violations.”
However, the Indian Minister’s tweets didn’t go well with Pakistan’s Information Minister, Chaudhury Fawad Hussain.
He replied on social media saying, “Mam It’s Pakistan’s internal issue,…I hope you’ll act with the same diligence when it comes to the rights of Indian Minorities.”
In her usual way, Mrs Swaraj didn’t let it go without a reply to Minister Hussain.
She again tweeted by saying “Mr.Minister, I only asked for a report from Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad about the kidnapping and forced conversion of two minor Hindu girls to Islam. This was enough to make you jittery. This only shows your guilty conscience.”
To which Mr Hussain replied: "Madam Minister, I am happy that in the Indian administration we have people who care for minority rights in other countries. I sincerely hope that your conscience will allow you to stand up for minorities at home as well. Gujarat and Jammu must weigh heavily on your soul. "
Salman Sufi is the founder of the Centre for Violence against Women in Pakistan. He also helped to draft the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act in 2016.
“It is an unfortunate truth that incidents like this happen in Pakistan," he told SBS Hindi. “Unless governments enforce women protection laws to the grassroots level it cannot be stopped.”
Meanwhile, a video of the father of the two alleged abducted girls has surfaced on social media in which he pleads in front of police to register his complaint.
Screenshot from social media allegedly showing the two Hindu girls, Reena and Raveena. Source: Twitter
Indian journalist, Aarti Tikoo Singh has also urged Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to speak about this issue.
Ms Singh tweeted, “Dear Malala, if & when you are a bit free from your busy schedule, please do raise your voice for girls like Raveena & Reena who are forcibly converted & married to the men waiting to rape them.”
Hours after the spat between Indian and Pakistani ministers, Pakistani police were reported to have arrested seven people allegedly involved in arranging the marriage of both the minor Hindu girls who were abducted.
Pakistan's Information Minister says Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered the Sindh government to launch an investigation into the incident.
Later on, social media posts showed video allegedly showing the girls in court in Islamabad with doubts raised about their age.
