Pakistan: 19-year-old Sikh girl who was abducted and converted to Islam returns home
Islamabad, Aug 31: A 19-year-old Sikh girl, who was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan, has now reportedly returned home. Police in Nankana Sahib city of Punjab province has arrested eight people in connection with the case.
The girl was allegedly abducted and forced to marry a Muslim man in Pakistan. The family of the abducted Sikh girl alleged they are also being threatened with forcible conversion to Islam.
The victim Jagjit Kaur was found after a video surfaced showing her forcible conversion and being renamed as 'Ayesha'.
India
on
Friday
raised
the
issue
with
Pakistan
and
asked
for
"immediate
remedial
action".
Ministry
of
External
Affairs
Spokesperson
Raveesh
Kumar
said
the
ministry
has
received
a
number
of
representations
from
various
quarters
of
civil
society
in
India,
including
Sikh
religious
bodies,
at
the
"reports
of
the
incident
of
abduction
and
forced
conversion
of
a
minor
Sikh
girl
in
Pakistan".
"We have shared these concerns with the government of Pakistan and asked for immediate remedial action," he said.
In a video shared by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manjinder S Sirsa on Thursday, the family of the girl has alleged that she was forcibly converted into Islam under the threat that her brothers and father would be shot dead. The girl is the daughter of a granthi of a gurdwara in Nankana Sahib. According to media reports, she was allegedly kidnapped and forcibly converted by a gang of local boys.
[Sikh girl abducted, forcibly converted and married to Muslim man; Pakistan orders probe]
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday to take up the issue of a Sikh girl being reportedly kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Pakistan. "Shocking incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped & forced to convert to Islam in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan," Singh tweeted, tagging a video.
Pakistan
then
ordered
a
probe
into
reports
of
a
Sikh
girl
being
kidnapped
and
forced
to
convert
to
Islam
after
the
incident
sparked
outrage
in
India.
Several
members
of
the
Sikh
community
in
Pakistan
gathered
at
Gurdwara
Sri
Nankana
Sahib,
demanding
the
release
of
the
victim.