New Delhi:
The teenage Sikh girl, who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan’s Punjab province, could not be produced before a special judicial magistrate on Monday due to security issues, according to a court official. “A police official of the Nankana City police station told the judicial magistrate that there were some serious security issues therefore she couldn’t be produced before the court,” a court official told news agency PTI.
The judicial magistrate adjourned the proceedings and directed the police to produce her after Ashura vacation on September 10.
A source in the Punjab police told news agency PTI that there were intelligence reports that the girl might be hurt during the court appearance by her relatives.
Daughter of a Sikh Granthi (priest), the girl was kidnapped by some unidentified men in Nankana Sahib, which happens to be the birthplace of Guru Nanak - the founder of Sikhism. The video of the ‘nikah’ has gone viral. The girl, who is visibly disturbed, is seen uttering few verses from Quran. She even declares in the video that she is marrying the boy, identified as one Mohammad Ehsaan, on her own will. She also claims in the video that she is 19. However, her brothers have said that the girl is between 16 and 17 years.
Earlier, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said we have shared the concerns with Pakistan over Sikh girl’s abduction, conversion to Islam and a forced marriage to a Muslim man. “Ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, at reports of the incident of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan. We have shared the concerns with Pakistan government and asked for immediate remedial action.” News agency ANIquoted MEA as saying.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also demanded that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan take stern action against those responsible for it and said they should not be allowed to get way. He also urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to raise the issue with his counterpart in Islamabad.
