Islamabad: May 9, 2010. (PCP) Pakistani Hindu leader Gopinath Kumar have appealed to President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari to intervene in recovery of Gomti, a Hindu teenage girl who was abducted and enforcedly converted to Islam by Mohammad Asghar Ali, a landlord of Ahmedpur Sharqiya in district Bahawalpur. Mr. Gopinath Kumar in his letter to President of Pakistan have stated that local authorities and Punjab administration have not taken any notice of inhuman crime of abduction and rape of teenage Hindu girl when her poor parents have filed many petitions for justice after their daughter kidnap on December 15, 2009. Here is copy of letter of Mr. Kumar to President Asif Ali Zardari, Dear President of Pakistan, Sub: A Hindu girl has been abducted by a landlord and forcibly converted to Islam; the authorities have refused to intervene Name of victim: Gomti, 15, daughter of Bheeka Ram; resident of Chak 47, Shahi Wala Taluka, district Bahawalpur, Punjab province. Name of alleged perpetrators: Mr. Asghar Ali, a local landlord of Ahmedpur Sharqiya, Shahi Wala Taluka, district Bahawalpur, Punjab province. Date of incident: October 12 -15, 2009 Place of incident: Shahi Wala, Ahmedpur Sharqiya, district Bahawalpur, Punjab province I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the disappearance of Miss Gomti, 15, a member of the Hindu community of Bahawalpur district, Punjab province, after her conversion to Islam through a forced marriage. I understand that police and state officials refused to look into her abduction. According to information received by the Hare Rama Foundation and the vice president of the National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony, on October 16, 2009 the parents of Miss Gomti, 15, who are field workers, were told that their daughter had left with their employer two days earlier to an unknown location. Miss Gomti had worked for Mr. Asghar Ali in in Ahmedpur Sharqiya, Bahawalpur, Punjab for a number of years before the incident. Miss Gomti's father Bheeka Ram and his wife took the case to the Shahi wala police chowki (a sub-station of the Head Rajkan police station), but were simply told that she would likely be returned soon. They then contacted Mr. Ramesh Jay Pal, the vice president of the National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony in Punjab, who I'm told arranged a Punchait, a meeting of representatives from different Muslim groups, on 18 October 2009, at which they resolved to find the victim. I understand that after about six weeks she was found with Mr. Asghar Ali at a village called Wali Ka Dera, in the Khanpur sub-district of Rahim Yar Khan, which is a remote place in the desert about 130km from the girl's home village. Mr. Asghar Ali told the Punchait that Miss Gomti had married one of his peasants, a Mr. Liaquat Ali, after converting to Islam; however her alleged husband could not be produced. When Miss Gomti was presented to the group by staff from the local seminary her name had been changed to Sughra, a Muslim name. She appeared to not be aware of this change however. Gomti's parents claim that they were only able to meet her in the presence of employees of Asghar Ali. She appeared to be under pressure, and reportedly asked her parents to convert to Islam. The parents were not able to take her home with them and we are told that she has been missing from the village since February. Her marriage certificate claims that she is 19. According to the records of the Hare Rama Foundation, more than ten Hindu girls were abducted and forcibly converted in a similar style in 2009 and the issue is one that has been repeatedly highlighted by the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Please intervene swiftly to ensure that Miss Gomti is found and that her security and fundamental rights to freedom of religion and security are guaranteed. I also urge you to make sure that all such cases of abduction and forced conversions – notably through marriages – are responded to swiftly and credibly by the authorities, as required by the Pakistan constitution and penal code. Mr. Asghar Ali, if proven to be guilty, must face legal sanctions, as must the police who are proven to have obstructed justice in the case. Yours sincerely, Gopinath Kumar Pakistan