Rescued girl married off to J&K Sikh youth

GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, June 29

One of the two Sikh girls from Jammu and Kashmir, allegedly abducted, converted and forced to marry elderly men from another religion in Kashmir, has been recovered with the efforts of members of the DSGMC and SGPC’s Jammu and Kashmir Sikh Mission.

The 18-year-old girl from Badgam district in Kashmir, who was lured and converted at gunpoint, has been handed over to her family by the court.

She was married off to a Sikh youth from Srinagar, with the ‘anand karaj’ (marriage as per Sikh conduct) being performed at Rainawari Gurdwara Sahib, Srinagar, today. The couple was shifted to New Delhi by DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

“Yesterday I met the girl, who disclosed how she was kidnapped and told that her parents were behind the bars and would be freed only if she conformed to their wish. She was later recovered by the police after protests and court’s intervention,” said Sirsa.

The other 28-year-old victim, who belongs to Mehjoor Nagar in Srinagar, also underwent a similar ordeal and remains missing. Efforts were on to recover her. In a ‘fake’ video message, she purportedly admitted to having gone ‘underground’ and conducted inter-faith marriage of her own will.

Sirsa claimed the clip that went viral on the social media was doctored. Her family said she was facing threat and was made to give misleading statements.