UK holds vigil for Sikh girl who died while holidaying in India

A memorial service was on Saturday held in Birmingham on Saturday for a British Sikh girl who died in a clinic in India in April.

Birmingham-born Gurkiren Kaur Loyal fell ill on a family holiday in Punjab and was being treated for dehydration at a clinic in Khanna when staff reportedly gave her a mystery injection.

The 8-year-old's parents claim her organs were then 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 have 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 tests on her body because of the missing organs.

The Birmingham Coroner's Office has requested their return. 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 say 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.

"It is imperative that we get the organs back in a condition in which they can be fully investigated... It cannot be the case that the Indian authorities are able to hold on to Gurkiren s organs indefinitely, or indeed, delay their return until such a time that the organs have deteriorated, thereby rendering impossible any further testing here in the UK," said Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood, who has been helping the family in their quest for answers.