India summons Pakistan official demanding 'safe return' of abducted Hindu minor girls

India has asked for 'immediate safe return' of the girls to their families.

Government sources said here on Saturday as per reports, two minor girls, Shanti Meghwad and Sarmi Meghwad, belonging to the minority Hindu community were abducted on January 14, 2020.

"They belong to Umar Village, Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan. In another incident, a minor girl, Mehak, also belonging to the minority Hindu community, was abducted from the Jacobabad district of Sindh province in Pakistan on 15 January 2020," the source said.

Pakistan has been conveyed the grave concerns as expressed amongst various quarters of the Indian civil society at such a "shocking and deplorable incident involving minor girls" from the minority Hindu community in Pakistan.

The incidents have been strongly condemned and asked for immediate safe return of the girls to their families, the source said.

Pakistan of late earned international attention for abduction and conversion of Sikh girls and their marriage with Muslim men.

In a shocking incident, a large number of Muslim protesters in early January surrounded the holy Sikh shrine of Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, threatening to overrun the site if their demands for the release of suspects in an alleged forced conversion case were not met.

Anti-Sikh slogans were raised at the site, the birth place of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism even as India condemned the attack.

Media reports said the protesters dispersed after several hours in the evening following successful negotiations between them and government representatives, which led to the release of the arrested persons.The Pakistani newspaper reported that the mob was led by the family of a man, Ehsan, who was accused of forcibly converting a Sikh woman, Jagjit Kaur, earlier this year.