Two districts in Sindh
Ghotki is in upper Sindh, on the border with Punjab. Umerkot is in the south-east of Sindh. The 2023 census counted 117,060 non-Muslim residents in Ghotki, or 6.6 per cent of its population, and 639,008 in Umerkot, or 55.2 per cent.
These profiles set out the two districts’ recorded cases involving minority girls and women, followed by figures on poverty, schooling, female literacy, early marriage, registered crime and criminal court verdicts. Each measure carries its own date and definition.
The recorded cases
The Centre for Social Justice compiles annual records of reported cases from press coverage and its own monitoring. Its district tables for 2021, 2023 and 2024 record 21 cases in Ghotki and 18 in Umerkot.
The category changes within the series. From 2023, the district tables combine abduction with forced conversion and abduction without conversion. The categories cannot be separated by district. The counts below are reported cases in that combined record.
- Cases in three years
- 21
- Non-Muslim residents
- 117,060
- Share of population
- 6.6 per cent
- Cases in three years
- 18
- Non-Muslim residents
- 639,008
- Share of population
- 55.2 per cent
In Ghotki, the Centre recorded five cases in 2021, 15 in 2023 and one in 2024. In Umerkot, it recorded one, 14 and three respectively. The 2022 table lists eight cases in Ghotki and ten in Umerkot. That table covers only the ten districts with the most cases, so we exclude 2022 from the totals and annual averages.
Across the three included years, the annual average is seven cases in Ghotki and six in Umerkot. Dividing these averages by the districts’ non-Muslim populations in the 2023 census gives 6.0 and 0.9 reported cases a year per 100,000 non-Muslim residents, respectively. These are descriptions of the Centre’s recorded cases; reporting and monitoring coverage may differ between districts.
Poverty, education and marriage
On Data Darbar’s multidimensional poverty measure for 2019–20, 65 per cent of people in Ghotki and 70 per cent in Umerkot were counted as poor. The measure combines indicators of schooling, health and living conditions.
The 2023 census recorded 32 per cent of girls aged five to 16 in school in Ghotki and 35 per cent in Umerkot. Among female residents aged ten and over, 26.3 per cent in Ghotki and 25.1 per cent in Umerkot were recorded as literate, according to the census figures published by Data Darbar.
In the Sindh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 2018–19, 42 per cent of women aged 20–49 in Ghotki and 31 per cent in Umerkot had married before 18.
| Indicator | Ghotki | Umerkot |
|---|---|---|
| Poverty headcountper cent of people · 2019–20 | 65 | 70 |
| Girls aged 5 to 16 in schoolper cent · 2023 | 32 | 35 |
| Female literacyper cent, ages 10 and over · 2023 | 26.3 | 25.1 |
| Women aged 20–49 married before 18per cent · 2018–19 | 42 | 31 |
| Honour killings registeredcases, 2023 and 2024 | 37 | 0 |
| Convictionsper cent of criminal verdicts · 12 monthly statements, 2016–19 | 12 | 29 |
Police and court records
Police registered 37 honour killings in Ghotki and none in Umerkot across 2023 and 2024. These are registered counts; a zero records no registrations in the source.
In 12 monthly district court statements from 2016 to 2019, convictions made up 12 per cent of criminal verdicts in Ghotki and 29 per cent in Umerkot. These statements cover all criminal cases. Neither these court figures nor the police figures identify religion or the outcomes of the reported forced-conversion and abduction cases above.