Pakistan's Imran Khan government sends back abducted Sikh girl home under international pressure, arrests 8

Pakistan Punjab's Nankana Sahib police have arrested eight persons in the case.

ISLAMABAD: Acting under immense pressure from across the world, the Imran Khan government handed over the abducted Pakistan-based Sikh girl to her parents on Saturday. The victim, Jagjit Kaur, was allegedly kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man in Nankana Sahib area of Lahore. 

Pakistan Punjab's Nankana Sahib police have arrested eight persons, including the father of the groom, in the case.

The Pakistan government was forced to take action after members of the Sikh community across the world came together, raising their voice against the forced atrocity. Many threatened to boycott the International Sikh Convention in Lahore beginning Saturday, an act that could portray the FAFT greylisted country in further negative light in front of the international community.

Jagjit Kaur was handed back to her parents after the country's Federal Interior Minister intervened.

The missing victim was found after a video surfaced showing her forcible conversion and being renamed as 'Ayesha'. A local maulvi reportedly arranged her marriage with a Muslim man. 

The victim's family immediately sought Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's intervention in the matter and reached out to the international Sikh community, which condemned the act.

The Ministry of External Affairs Friday asked the Pakistani authorities to take "immediate remedial action" in the incident.

“The Ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies in India, 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,” the MEA official spokesperson said in response to a query regarding the abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also asked Imran Khan and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take action. “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,” he tweeted.

India's Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Manjinder S Sirsa shared a video of the family seeking help from Khan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishanker.