She is divorced and has two sons with her former spouse, Karnail Singh, who has resided in England for almost 30 years.
An Indian Sikh woman has reportedly converted to Islam and wed a man in Pakistan, displaying a document, days after she lost contact with the group of pilgrims she had travelled with to the neighboring country to observe Guru Nanak Dev’s Praksh Parv.
On November 4, Sarabjeet Kaur, who is 52 and a resident of Punjab’s Kapurthala district, was part of a group of Sikh pilgrims who crossed into Pakistan over the Wagah-Attari border for religious visits in line with a bilateral agreement, permitting Indian pilgrims access to shrines in Pakistan, as part of this year’s Prakash Parv to commemorate the 555th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
The group of 1,992 Sikh pilgrims visited Pakistan for about ten days before flying back to India on November 13; Kaur did not return to India with the group, and she is now believed to still be in Pakistan.
An Urdu document known as the ‘nikahnama’, which is an Islamic wedding contract, was made public revealing Kaur had married Nasir Hussain, a Sheikhupura resident about 56 km from Lahore.
She had embraced Islam and adopted the name Noor prior to her marriage, presenting a document that could not be independently confirmed.
She is divorced and has two sons with her former spouse, Karnail Singh, who has resided in England for almost 30 years.
Her passport was created in Muktsar, Punjab. Records indicate she vanished in Pakistan, as immigration documents do not list her name for leaving Pakistan and arriving in India.
Upon Kaur’s failure to come back to India, the Immigration Department promptly notified the Punjab Police. The police have also forwarded an initial report to other Indian authorities.
As conveyed by a report from news agency IANS, and sourced by senior government officials, the Indian mission has been alert and in touch with the relevant Pakistani authorities regarding her disappearance.
Every year, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which is the apex Sikh religious organization, organizes a delegation of Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan to pay their respects at historic gurudwaras, especially to mark the auspicious occasion of Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak.
About a month ago, like two weeks prior to its refusal based on security concerns, the government, for a second time, permitted Sikh devotees to make the 10-day pilgrimage to the Nankana Sahib shrine across the border.
