Dalbir Kaur, Sister Of Sarabjit Singh Who Was Sentenced To Death In Pakistan, Passes Away

Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man from Punjab who was on death row in Pakistan has passed away.

Dalbir died on Saturday night at the age of 60 due to a heart attack. Her last rites will be conducted on Sunday at Bhikhiwind in Punjab.

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Fought for her brother's life for 22 years

For more than twenty years, Dalbir had been fighting to save her younger brother who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for being an Indian spy and for his alleged involvement in a series of bomb blasts in the country in 1990.

The family, however, rejected all charges and said that Sarbjit was a farmer from Bhikhiwind in Punjab near the India-Pakistan border, who mistakenly crossed over the border after having a couple of drinks.

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Sarabjit, a case of mistaken identity?

They also argued that Sarabjit had inadvertently crossed the border three months after the bombings in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people.

Pakistan insisted that he was Manjit Singh and was sentenced to death by a Pakistan court in 1991.

They also produced a video, in which Sarabjit was seen confessing his involvement in the bomb blasts, which the family alleges, he was forced to admit under torture.

The death sentence was later upheld by the Pakistan Supreme Court.

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The death sentence was repeatedly delayed and Sarabjit was kept in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore for 22 years.

Dalbir, Sarbjit's elder sister was leading the efforts in India and internationally to free her brother.

Sarabjit Singh's death

Things took a tragic turn on April 26, 2013, when Sarabjit was beaten up by his inmates in the Lahore jail.

He was then rushed to Lahore's Jinnah Hospital where he died after being comatose for five days due to severe injuries in the head.

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Dalbir Kaur had always insisted that her brother, Singh was innocent and had strayed into Pakistan by mistake when he was arrested. She also went to Pakistan to see her brother.

Then Ministry of External Affairs had asked the Pakistani government to conduct a probe into Singh's death, while his sister, Dalbir Kaur had also called for an inquiry into the case and said: "If the attack was planned by the government itself, then there is no need for an inquiry. But if Sarabjit was attacked without the knowledge of the authorities, then an inquiry is definitely needed."

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