PPP's Krishna Kohli takes oath in traditional Thari dress

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first-ever Thari Hindu woman to be elected to the Senate arrived on Monday to take the oath along with her parents donned in a traditional dress.

“I’m feeling very proud,” Krishna Kohli said while speaking to Geo News. Kohli was dressed in bright traditional Thari clothes complete with white bangles up to her shoulders.

From Thar to Senate, Krishna Kohli recalls tough journey

The 39-year-old was tied to bonded labour for two years when she was in grade two

“I’ll try to bring my community to the forefront,” the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader from a village in Tharparkar added.

While thanking PPP and party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for giving her a seat she asserted, “For the first time in history someone from my community has been selected.” She is is the first-ever senator from a scheduled caste.

Born in 1979, Krishna hails from Nagarparkar, a village in Tharparkar where women are to date deprived of basic facilities. She battled hunger and poverty early in her life, and was also a victim of bonded labour.