Some 1,700 Indian pilgrims had gone to Pakistan to visit Sikh shrines on the occasion of Baisakhi
A Sikh woman from Punjab's Hoshiarpur who had gone to Pakistan
on a pilgrimage has reportedly converted to Islam and married a Lahore-based Pakistani national, her family has said.
Her father-in-law Tarsem Singh alleged today that his daughter-in-law could have fallen into the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI, and may have been forced to convert and remarry there.
The woman, Kiran Bala, who left for Pakistan with a
pilgrimage group on April 12, reportedly went missing on April 16. Some 1,700 Indian pilgrims had gone to Pakistan to visit Sikh shrines on the occasion of Baisakhi.
The husband of Ms Bala, 31, died in 2013; she has three children. She had been living with her in-laws at a village in Punjab's Garhshankar sub-division, 90 kilometres from Chandigarh.
She crossed the border using her Indian passport with a Pakistani visa valid till April 21.
Reports in Pakistani media say Ms Bala converted to Islam in Lahore on April 16 and later married Muhammed Azam, a resident of Hanjarwal Multan Road in Lahore.
The reports say she has requested Pakistani visa extension under the name Amna Bibi, though her signature appeared to name her as Amina.
Though the Sikh pilgrims are to return to India on April 21, Kiran Bala has reportedly sought extension of her Pakistani visa with the Pakistani foreign ministry
She has applied for visa extension with the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad, citing threat to her life in India, a report in Pakistan-based Daily Times said. The News, a Pakistan-based media firm, posted purported photos of the woman and her visa extension application on its website.
Ms Bala's children are with their grandparents now.
"I had dropped my daughter-in-law with SGPC (gurdwara committee) officials in Amritsar on April 10 for the pilgrimage in Pakistan. The jatha is expected to return on April 21," Tarsem Singh, the father-in-law, told reporters.
"I cannot believe what has happened. No one has contacted us officially from the SGPC and the foreign ministry. I want my daughter-in-law to be returned safely," said Mr Singh, who is also a Sikh priest at the village.
He alleged Kiran Bala could have been in touch with the Pakistani man (whom she has reportedly married) through social media, particularly Facebook. His daughter-in-law had been seen browsing Facebook on her mobile phone for the past one month, he alleged.
The visit of the Indian pilgrims to Pakistan has been mired in controversies.
On Sunday last, India lodged a strong protest with Pakistan after the Sikh pilgrims were not allowed to meet Indian embassy officials on three occasions. The diplomatic row comes weeks after Pakistan accused India of harassing its diplomats and their families in Delhi.
With inputs from IANS