Monday, September 29, 2008

Sikh girl appears before court, denies abduction charge

DAGGAR: The Sikh girl, who later embraced Islam the other day and tied nuptial knot with the man of her choice, was recovered from Saleem Khan Killay in adjoining district Swabi and was Monday produced before a local court, where she recorded her statement under section-164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Seema Kor, 18, who was renamed as Seema Gul after entering the fold of Islam, told the court that she left her house at her own and converted to Islam to marry Bakhtiar as she loved him and could not live without him.

Giving the reason for leaving her house, she said Bakhtiar would reject her proposal by saying she was not a Muslim. “I left my home on Friday morning and called Bakhtiar about my decision of becoming Muslim and marrying him. I had arranged the cab by myself and asked Bakhtiar to accompany me,” she told the court.

She emphatically told the court that she would never return to her uncle’s house, as she was an adopted child and living with her uncle. “I will prefer committing suicide to abandoning my husband”.

She also demanded security and said her family was influencing the local administration through the provincial government to hand her over to Terith Ram, her uncle. Seema said she was a mature person and the law of the land permits here to marry the person of her choice.

It has been learnt Bakhtiar, 22, is a local youth who used to run herbal medicine shop near the house of Seema.

A local lawyer and a prayer leader before the court proceedings solemnised the marriage of Seema Gul with Bakhtiar. However, the court sent Bakhtiar to jail under section 11/16 while the girl was handed over to Bakhtiar’s father.

Terith Ram, who adopted Seema after her parents divorced 20 years back, termed her elopement as abduction. Seema’s mother remarried in Kohat while her father Samba Chand had a case in the local court over her custody with her maternal uncle Terith Ram and the court was hearing the case.

It is pertinent to mention that this incident was the third of its kind in the district as earlier Sangeeta Kumari embraced Islam and married a Muslim boy and similarly another Jashmeeta Kumari arranged matrimony with one Yousaf.

The Sikh community in the district has been living since long in the area and the local people have maintained good relationship with them. They have also their public representatives on the reserved seats for minorities. Aresh Kumar is member of the National Assembly and is representing his people in the assembly from the platform of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Meanwhile, local elders of the area were trying to resolve the matter amicably as the Sikh community was immensely respected in the area.

http://www.sikhpress.com

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