The teenage Sikh girl, who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam “at gunpoint” before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan’s Punjab province, on Saturday refused to go home, fearing threat to her life.
The girl, who is the daughter of a Sikh priest, was on Friday sent to a shelter home on a court order.
Kaur’s family alleged that she was converted to Islam at gunpoint and forced to marry a Muslim boy. Her family says she is 18 years of age.
“On Saturday, Punjab Governor Chaudhary Muhammad 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 told PTI.
An FIR was registered on Thursday against six people in the case. Police have arrested one of the suspects named Arsalan, a friend of her husband Hassan, who is also the prime accused in the case and currently on a pre-arrest bail.
Police on Saturday detained 10 more people, including relatives and friends of Hassan, in connection with the case.
The Sikh community in Nankana Sahib held protests demanding return of the girl back to her family.
Some reports also said that the Sikh community has announced a ban on the entry of Muslims in gurudwaras including Gurudwara Janamasthan, the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev, until the girl is reunited with her family and action is taken against the culprits.
However, Pakistan’s Gurudwara Parbhandik Committee Secretary General Ameer Singh told PTI that the situation in Nankana Sahib has been under control and clarified that the Sikh community had not banned Muslims entry to gurudwaras in Nankana Sahib.
Before the governor’s meeting with the girl, a Sikh delegation called on him to discuss the matter.
Under pressure, the Punjab Government constituted a high-level committee to negotiate with Sikhs angry over the abduction and forced conversion of the girl.
The committee told the family of the girl and the community members that she had embraced Islam of her free will after marrying Hassan. It also provided them with video proof of Kaur’s marriage and her conversion to Islam besides copies of the documents from the National Database and Registration Authority, showing Kaur’s age as 19 years.