New Delhi:
A 31-year-old Sikh widow, who went missing on a pilgrimage in Pakistan, has allegedly married a Lahore-based man and later converted to Islam.
The woman, identified as Kiran Bala is a native of Hoshiarpur and went to attend the Baisakhi festival in Pakistan as part of a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Sikh delegation on April 13.
"A 31-year-old woman from Hoshiarpur has allegedly converted to Islam & married a Lahore-based man after going missing on a pilgrimage in Pakistan. The woman had gone to attend the Baisakhi festival there as part of an SGPC Sikh delegation," ANI reported.
#Punjab: A 31-year-old woman from Hoshiarpur has allegedly converted to Islam & married a Lahore-based man after going missing on a pilgrimage in Pakistan. The woman had gone to attend the Baisakhi festival there as part of an SGPC Sikh delegation.
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2018
Meanwhile, Kiran's father-in-law, who is a Sikh religious preacher in Garhshankar sub-division of Punjab, suspects that she might have fallen into the hands of Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and was forced to change her religion.
Tarsem Singh has also sought the intervention of Punjab and Centre government into the matter.
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"My daughter-in-law called and said that she has converted to Islam and got re-married in Pakistan. I want to request the Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Punjab to take her out of this situation. I suspect she might have fallen into the hands of ISI," ANI quoted Tarsem Singh.
My daughter-in-law called & said that she has converted to Islam & got re-married in Pakistan. I want to request the Prime Minister, CM of Punjab to take her out of this situation. I suspect she might have fallen into the hands of ISI: Tarsem Singh, Father-in-Law of the woman. pic.twitter.com/e2MhzQr5pV
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2018
Kiran Bala, the 31-year-old widow is the mother of three children and was living with her in-laws in Garhshankar, around 90 km from Chandigarh. Tarsem's son died in an accident back in 2013. Now, with Kiran tied knot to the Lahore man, Tarsem is worried about the future of his three grandchildren, whose future is in limbo.
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Around 1,700 Indian pilgrims had gone to Pakistan to visit Sikh shrines, including Panja Sahib Gurdwara near Lahore and Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak, on the occasion of Baisakhi on April 13.
(With inputs from agencies)
