E-Paper
Missing from Sikh jatha, Punjab woman converts to Islam, marries Pakistani
Sarabjit Kaur, 48, of Kapurthala solemnises ‘nikah’ with Nasir Hussain of Sheikhupura on November 5, a day after she crossed the Wagah-Attari checkpost as part of the 1,931-member Sikh jatha.
Sarabjit Kaur, 48, of Kapurthala, who went to Pakistan as part of the Sikh jatha (group of pilgrims) for Guru Nanak Dev’s 556th birth anniversary (Gurpurb) celebrations recently and went missing from Nankana Sahib, has converted to Islam and married a Pakistan native, police said on Saturday.
Sarabjit Kaur, now Noor Hussain solemnised ‘nikah’ (marriage) with Nasir Hussain, 43, of Nayi Abadi Sheikhupura, Pakistan, on November 5, a day after she crossed the Wagah-Attari international border checkpost as part of the 1,931-member Sikh jatha, the police said.
The ‘nikah nama (marriage certificate)’, which was widely shared on social media on Friday evening, showed Noor Hussain’s address as Haal Maukeen village in Sheikhupura.
The matter came to light on November 13 when she was found missing when the jatha, led by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, returned.
SGPC, police in tizzy
The incident has left the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and central intelligence agencies in a tizzy as they are trying to reach out to the woman to get first-hand information.
Kapurthala senior superintendent of police Gaurav Toora said the police is in contact with central agencies “on this serious issue”. “Police officials have visited Amanipur village in Sultanpur Lodhi sub division of Kapurthala district and met her sons to get information about her intention to visit Pakistan,” the SSP said.
A senior official said Punjab Police and central agencies are working in a coordinated manner to ascertain if Sarabjit had visited Pakistan earlier as part of jathas or the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.
Criminal background
The police said she was staying at Amanipur village along with her two sons, while her husband, Karnail Singh, divorced her and is in England for the past 15 years.
The police found that the woman has a criminal background as three cases of cheating and fraud were registered against her at Bathinda’s Kotfatta police station and Kapurthala city police station.
“Her passport carries the permanent address of Malout in Muktsar district and mentions her father’s name. Surprisingly, she didn’t mention her citizenship and passport number in the immigration form submitted at the time of applying for a Pakistan visa,” an official said.
The police said both her sons also have a criminal history as 10 FIRs of fraud, assault and cheating were registered against them at several police stations.
Both her sons and other villagers are tightlipped on the issue.
Not first incident
This is not the first such incident as in 2018, then 31-year-old Kiran Bala, a woman from Garhshankar town in Hoshiarpur district, converted to Islam and became Amna Bibi to marry a Muslim man while on a pilgrimage to Pakistan. She had been married to a mechanic, who died in a road accident in 2013, leaving behind her two sons and a daughter. She went to Pakistan on pilgrim visa on April 12, 2018, only to go missing. She emerged after converting and marrying a Pakistani citizen on April 16. She filed an application for visa extension to the Pakistani government, citing “threat of assassination” if forced to return. At present, she is staying in Lahore.
