A Hindu woman who converted to Islam with her six children, including three teenage daughters, has joined her sister at her Karachi home with court permission, family and court sources say.

Radha — who was renamed as Rida following the conversion at a seminary on May 7 — appeared before the judicial magistrate No 10 in Karachi on Wednesday, May 17, a day after her husband Rajmi Meghwar learnt about the conversion.

Ramji had lodged an FIR with Gulbahar police station on the day his wife and children went missing. It was in response to the FIR that Radha and her children appeared before the court to record their statement, said Khadim Hussain, the head of Gulbahar police station.

Radha, or Rida, and her eldest daughter Mira, who is now Fatima, told the court that they converted to Islam of their free will and without any duress, Hameer Lal Meghwar, one of the members of the Meghwar community who had been trying to find and locate Radha and her children, told Aaj News.

The court appearance was so sudden that almost all of the court reporters in the city failed to attend the hearing. However, a court official confirmed to Aaj News the content of the statement recorded by Radha.

She told the magistrate that she wanted to live with her sister who had converted to Islam a few years ago and married a Punjabi Muslim man in Karachi, according to Hameer Lal and the court official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with journalists.

The court allowed Radha and her children to join her sister who lives in Karachi after filing PR bonds of Rs5 million. Ramji’s plea for sending the children to a shelter was rejected, said Hameer Lal.

Radha alleged that she was forced to leave home after suffering domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. “But this was probably only an excuse,” said Hameer Lal.

Hameer Lal said another sister of Radha had also converted from Islam a few years ago and married a man from the Ismaili community.

Ramji Meghwar moved to Karachi from Mirpurkhas a couple of years ago to improve his income. His wife is also from the Meghwar community.

Radha’s parents have now contacted the Pakistan Hindu Council, a representative body of Hindus in Pakistan and a non-profit organization working for the welfare of the minorities in the country.

Roop Mala Singh, a lawyer who regularly represents the Pakistan Hindu Council and is also a member of the council, told Aaj News that Radha’s father approached the council on Thursday seeking the recovery of her daughter and grandchildren.

She said she would be able to share more details once she meets the father.

The conversion certificate for Radha and her children was issued by the New Muslim Foundation department of Jamia Binoria Aalamia, a well-known seminary in Karachi.

The New Muslim Foundation offers food, residence, employment, medical and other facilities to new converts. However, it is not clear it had been hosting Radha and her children before she was permitted to live with her sister.

Radha, 36; her daughters Mira, 16, Pira, 15, and Piya, 14; and sons Amar, 10, Jay Ram, 7, and Gopal, 4, went missing on Sunday, May 7. The conversion certificate said they converted to Islam on the same day.