Pak court seeks birth certificate of Sikh girl 'married' to Muslim boy

Lahore, May 6

A Pakistani court has sought the computerised birth certificate of a Sikh girl, whose marriage with a Muslim boy last year, triggered tension in the country and also raised concerns in India.

Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Shehram Sarwar on Tuesday held the hearing of a petition filed by Muhammad Hassan, seeking custody of his wife Jagjit Kaur, who has been sent to a shelter home on a court order. The judge sought the birth certificate of Jagjit Kaur issued by the National Database and Registration Authority to determine her age to decide on the petition.

Jagjit, the daughter of a Sikh priest of Nankana Sahib, was sent to Lahore's Darul Aman (shelter home) after she made a statement before the LHC that she married Hassan of her free will after converting to Islam and did not want to go back to her family. However, her brother, Manmohan Singh, alleged that Hassan abducted his sister with an intention of rape. He claimed that Kaur was below 16 years of age and had not reached the age of consent when the incident happened.

Hassan's counsel told the LHC that she was now 19 and her computerised national identity card was available. The judge, however, directed the counsel to submit the birth certificate by May 22. — PTI

The controversy

The issue snowballed into a controversy after a video of the girl's family became viral on social media in which one of her family members had alleged that a group of men attacked their house and she was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and was married to Hassan in September last year.