The Pakistani Sikh girl, who the family claims was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan’s Punjab, has refused to go home.
Videos of the girl saying she left at her own will to marry the young Muslim man have gone viral.
Tensions in Nankana Sahib, a town located 80 km from Lahore, Pakistan increased following the local Sikh Priest’s claims that his teenage daughter, Jagjit Kaur had been abducted, forcibly converted and married to a Muslim man, Mohammad Hassan.
“The family has told us that the girl was taken at late night on August 27 and 35 hours later, a video emerged of her at a Muslim wedding ceremony where she appears to say she is marrying of her own will,” Harmeet Singh, Pakistan’s first Sikh journalist told SBS Hindi.
“I have spoken to a few people in the community who say the girl was in touch with the boy on Facebook and they were together but the family says she has been taken against her own will and forcibly married.”
The Governor of Punjab has appointed a high-level committee to look into the matter at the request of a Sikh delegation of Pakistan. The family has also made a police complaint against six people in the case while the local Sikh community held protests demanding the girl be returned back to the family.
The girl, who is at a shelter home, met Punjab province’s Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar and has purportedly told him she loves Hassan and had married of her own will. She also refused to go home and said she feared for her life if she returned to her parents’ home.
"On Saturday, Governor Sarwar met with the Sikh girl at Lahore's Darul Aman and tried his best to persuade her to return her parents' home but she declined," an official of the Punjab government told news agency PTI.
SBS Hindi has learnt that the girl has met her family twice at the shelter home in Lahore.
Pakistan’s main English daily, Dawn, reported a high-level committee has been constituted to negotiate with Sikhs angry over the kidnapping and forced conversion of the girl.
“Official documents say the girl’s age is 19. Pakistan’s law allows citizens above the age of 18 to make such decisions of their own will. The Lahore High Court is hearing this matter and the Governor of Punjab is involved too and members of the Sikh community are continuously in touch with the higher-ups. The matter has been escalated to resolve the grievances and with the matter being before the court, we should soon know what is the case,” Wusat Ullah Khan, a news analyst with Dawn told SBS Hindi.
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