Candle march for Sikh girl who died in India
Sunday, 23/06/2013
http://www.punjabnewsline.com/news/candle-march-for-sikh-girl-who-died-in-india/81504
LONDON/LUDHIANA: A candlelight march was held in Birmingham in the memory of an 8-year-old British Sikh girl. The little girl died in a clinic in India in April, as her family was allegedly visiting India during holidays.
Gurkiren Kaur Loyal, was Birmingham-born who fell ill on a family holiday in Punjab, the girl was being treated for dehydration at a clinic in Khanna when the staff of the clinic reportedly gave her a mystery injection.
Her parents also claimed that the organs of the girl were removed during a post-mortem to cover up the cause of death.
Gurkiren's mother, Amrit Kaur Loyal, has been campaigning ever since to have the organs returned to the UK.
Saturday's vigil in the schoolgirl's memory took place at Centenary Square in central Birmingham and her family has requested people to bring their own candles and wear an item of either red or pink clothing, which were Gurkiren's favourite colours.
UK pathologists have been unable to carry out their own post-mortem on her body because of the missing organs.
The Birmingham Coroner's Office has requested the return of her missing organs. The Indian authorities confirmed last month that Gurkiren's organs had been retained at the Government Medical College at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala for post-mortem tests.
But, two months after her death, her family says they have not been given any idea about how she died and have dismissed the hospital's claim that she was suffering from a brain infection.
Amrit Loyal and her husband, Santokh Singh, recently also arranged a meeting with UK Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire in a bid to ramp up pressure on the Indian authorities.
