New Delhi/Islamabad: A 19-year-old Sikh girl was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan's Punjab province.
India on Friday said it has raised with Pakistan the issue and asked for "immediate remedial action".
In response to a media query regarding the incident, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies, at the "reports of the incident of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan".
"We have shared these concerns with the government of Pakistan and asked for immediate remedial action," he said.
An FIR has been registered against six people in the case, Muhammad Jamil, Nankana City Police Investigation Officer, told PTI.
One of the suspects Arsalan, a friend of prime suspect Mohammad Hassan who married the Sikh girl has been arrested.
"Arsalan facilitated Hassan in getting him married to the Sikh girl," he said, adding that Hassan is on a pre-arrest bail and could not be arrested.
The girl, Jagjit Kaur, who is now known as Aeysha, submitted her statement with a local Pakistani court under oath saying that she wilfully embraced Islam. She also refuted charges levelled in the police complaint filed by her parents.
Jamil said that Hassan and the girl live in the same locality.
"They developed a love affair and the girl decided to elope with him to contract marriage," he said.
As per the directions of the court, Kaur has been sent to Darul Aman, Lahore (shelter home).
Meanwhile, a video of the girl at the wedding ceremony has also gone viral on social media.
In the video, the girl is seen sitting beside Hassan and saying that she was marrying him without any pressure.
The family of the girl have claimed that Kaur was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and sought Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's help.
In a video being circulated on social media, Jagjit Kaur's brother Manmohan Singh relates how his sister was forcibly abducted and warned that unless she converts to Islam, her brother and father would be killed. "She was forcibly converted. It is my appeal to Imran Khan and Gen Bajwa to help us, and that my sister be brought back home. We apprehend that tomorrow such incidents should not take place on the Kartarpur corridor," he says in one video.
"We belong to Nankana Sahib. Last night some goons came to our house and forcibly abducted our sister Jagjit Kaur and converted her to Islam. We filed a complaint with the police, but no one wanted to register our complaint. After we returned home the goons came back and threatened us to take back our complaint, or we would also be converted to Islam if we want to remain here."
"It is our appeal to PM Imran Khan that we be given security. If this is not done, then on Aug 31 we will go to the governor's house and commit self-immolation. We also want our sister back safe and sound," he says in the video appeal.
In a related development, the Punjab government has constituted a high-level panel to negotiate with the 30-member committee formed by the Sikh community in connection with the case.
Prime Minister Khan had in March ordered a probe into reports of abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls in Sindh province.
The two girls were allegedly kidnapped by a group of "influential" men from their home in Ghotki district in Sindh on the eve of Holi.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has voiced shock over the incident, which has gone viral on twitter with the girl's brother appealing to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to return his sister and provide them security. He has also said the incident could impact the Kartarpur Corridor that is set to open in November, and also the Kashmir issue.
Amarinder tweeted: "Shocking incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped & forced to convert to Islam in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan. Call upon @ImranKhanPTI to take firm and immediate action against the perpetrators. Request @DrSJaishankar to strongly take up the issue with his counterpart at the earliest," the Punjab CM tweeted.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
