Girl’s brother Manmohan Singh and father Bhagwan Singh

AMRITSAR: The kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage of a Sikh granthi's (priest) daughter with a Muslim youth at Nankana Sahib , the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev, just ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of the first Sikh master, has left the minuscule Sikh community of Pakistan shocked and outraged.

The girl, whose father Bhagwan Singh is a granthi at Gurdwara Tambu Sahib, Nankana Sahib, has been forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim boy Mohammad Ehsaan.

Several cases of kidnapping and forced conversion of Hindu and Sikh girls from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan have been reported earlier too.

'Under pressure not to raise conversion issue'

In the 'nikah' (Muslim marriage) video of the girl which has gone viral, the visibly scared girl sporting a black dupatta and sitting alongside Ehsaan, identifies herself. The couple can be heard repeating Quranic verses after a Maulvi followed by the girl declaring that she is marrying Ehsan of her own will. The girl claims to be of 19 years of age and says she has not brought along any jewellery or property paper with her from parental house.

However, her brother Manmohan Singh says in his complaint that she is between 16 years and 17 years of age.

Based on Monmohan's complaint, on August 28, Nankana Sahib police had registered a FIR against Ehasan and six others, including a woman Rukiyya, under Section 365 B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing women for marriage) of the Pakistan Penal Code .

Sawinder Singh, younger brother of the girl, told TOI over phone that his sister, who was already betrothed to a Sikh boy was kidnapped by Ehsaan and others on the night of August 27. "She had gone to stay with our elder sister whose husband was on a business trip to Faislabad. An armed group attacked the house located near Gurdwara Bad Leela and kidnapped the girl at gunpoint," he said.

Sawinder also alleged that neither the police nor the Evacuee Trust Property Board officials paid any heed to their complaint. "In fact, messages are being conveyed to us not to rake up the issue in view of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev and opening of Kartarpur corridor," he added.



In Video: Pakistan: Sikh girl forced to accept Islam and marry Muslim man