Why two Sikh women marrying Muslims triggered disputes in Kashmir

One woman was hurriedly married off to fellow Sikh, the other sent back to her parents while the two men are in custody.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – For more than a week now, a section of the minority Sikh community in Indian-administered Kashmir has been protesting against what they call the “forced conversion” of two women who married Muslim men – a claim denied by police officials and the men’s families who say the unions are interfaith marriages. Manmeet Kaur, a 19-year-old Sikh woman, and her 29-year-old partner Shahid Nazir Bhat, both residents of the Muslim-majority region’s main city of Srinagar, fled their homes on June 21, according to their families and the police. After the woman’s family filed a complaint, Bhat was charged with kidnapping the Sikh woman.