‘Recovered’ Sikh Girl Married Off In Her Own Community

Following the protests by Sikh groups in Jammu and Kashmir alleging that two women were ‘kidnapped, converted and married’ in Srinagar, one of the women handed over to her family on Saturday evening was married off within her community and sent outside the Kashmir Valley. Another woman has dismissed the allegation of forced conversion and said that she has married the man out of her own free will and has the right to choose her religion and partner.

On Saturday over two dozen Sikhs lodged protests outside the City Court seeking handing over of Manmeet Kaur, who was brought by the police in the court to give a statement.

The protestors alleged Manmeet was a minor and had been abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man. The police sources said following a complaint from the girl’s family, they got hold of Manmeet Kaur, 26, and a man Shahid Nazir Bhat, 29, of Rainwari, and produced them before the Court. The police said both were majors.

According to Sikh leader Jagmohan Singh Raina, he intervened in the case after he was approached by the family saying they are not being allowed inside the Court where their daughter was giving a statement along with Shahid Nazir. He said the girl was handed over to her family after the court hearing on Saturday evening.

“I don’t know whether she has given any statement under before the Court or not. All I know the family was not allowed in the court and it was a grave injustice,” he added. The police are silent about the issue and are refusing to comment.

Two days after this incident, the family married Manmeet to one Sukhbir Singh, with the decision of the Panj Pyaaras. The marriage took place on Tuesday.

Since Saturday, Sikh organsations Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have been urging the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to intervene.

In their letter to the L-G, the Sri Akal Takhat Sahib officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has written, "Through this letter, I would like to apprise you about the repeated incidents of kidnapping of Sikh girls in Jammu and Kashmir and their forceful conversion and marrying them with Muslim men."

However, in a ten-minute-long video, which is viral on social media, a woman is seen as saying, “for the past few days you are seeing videos in which the Sikh community is saying their two girls are missing. They say Danveet and Manmeet are missing. They say Manmeet has been recovered and Danveet is still missing." “I am Danveet. I converted in 2012. I entered into nikkah with my batchmate Zaffer in 2014. The nikkah took place with my consent.”

“On June 6, 2021 I left my home and I called my family that I have left on my own and don’t pursue me,” she says.

“Within two hours the police located me and took me to the police station Saddar. Once I reached the police station there were sikh community members and my family. After that the SHO took my statement. He was only taking my oral statement. I told him to take my written statement, but he didn’t. I told him I converted in 2012 and in 2014 I have entered into nikkah. In spite of listening to this the boy (Zaffar) was put into lockup,” she said.

“I told the police I am not a kid. And why they are handing over me to my family. Without taking my written statement the police handed me over to my family. The very next day my family took me to Jammu and from there to Punjab,” the girl says.

“In Punjab different Sikh federations came to meet me. They would tell me to give a different statement. They would tell me to speak against the boy. I, however, told them we have the court documents and the case registered against the boy (Zaffar) is false.”

Shahid is the police lockup and Zaffar is in the central jail Srinagar - both are facing charges of abduction and kidnapping.