RAJWINDER KAUR-26 yo-(2012)Queens, NY

(CBS News) The family of a missing New York woman is extremely
worried after they got a chilling text message from her cell number:
"The girl with this phone is dead was smiling."
Authorities said
26-year-old Rajwinder Kaur was last seeing in her Queens home Sunday at 8
p.m. when she was on her way to volunteer at a Brooklyn shelter, CBS New York affiliate WCBS reported.
Rajwinder's youngest sister received the mysterious message at 9:40 p.m. ET the night she vanished.

"I
was reading it and it didn't make sense and I worried, what's going
on?" the youngest sister, Gurpreet, told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.
"We
are very nervous, we are scared, I know Raji. She will never send a
message like that," added brother-in-law Kulwinder Bhinder.
Watch: Shocking Text Message Leaves Family Of Missing Queens Woman 'Very Worried'
Kaur's
family said they are anxiously waiting answers to what happened to
Rajwinder, a social worker who recently became involved in volunteering
at shelters. They tried to get the word out on Twitter and Facebook, but
still haven't learned any new information.
"Nobody has called. We've even reached out to our community, the
Punjabi community, we put like news in the ... Indian [TV] channels and
all that and we haven't heard anything from anybody yet," Lucky said.
"We're really very, very worried.
Her family did not know what shelter she was heading to and have put missing fliers at dozens of them.
NYPD
sources told CBS 2 that Rajwinder had sold some belongings on eBay
before she disappeared and believe that she joined a cult. The creepy
text could mean "the old Rajwinder is dead to you; the new Rajwinder is
with us" the sources told Hennessey.

The Kaur family,
however, is skeptical of that theory, describing the 26-year-old as a
religious girl who wouldn't do something so extreme. They do, however,
believe she is alive.
"Yes, I have to believe that," Gurpreet Kaur said. "We do."
Rajwinder
is described as 5-foot-3 and 130 pounds with a thin build and medium
complexion. The family is offering a $1,000 reward for information that
leads to her safe return.
Anyone with information in regards to
this missing is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers
website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637
(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57470594/missing-new-yorkers-chilling-text-the-girl-with-this-phone-is-dead/

Rajwinder Kaur Fled Arranged Marriage, Found in Texas

Well, it looks like 26-year-old Rajwinder Kaur wasn't harmed after
all, which makes it easier to speculate upon the idea that her entire
disappearance was plotted. The missing woman was located in Texas on
Thursday after allegedly taking a bus from New York on Sunday night.
This comes after she sold her belongings on Ebay and then vanished while
on the way to volunteer at a homeless shelter.

So what about that ominous text, "The girl with this phone is dead was smiling,"
that had people worried about her? It truly does appear that this was a
hoax, and it's not in the least bit surprising. Rajwinder Kaur took a
page right out of the Aisha Khan playbook—another very high-profile
missing woman who faked an abduction to get away for unknown reasons.
However, in the story of Aisha Khan, the 19-year-old was already married
and was likely trying to escape the fundamentalist holds of her
environment, enjoying the life of an American woman with freedom. While
the differences between the Muslim and Sikh cultures are
arguable/debatable, one thing is certain: arranged marriages are the
norm, and it's not unlikely for someone to rebel against this tradition.
Well the reason for Rajwinder's disappearance, again, was not
surprising. She was fleeing from an arranged marriage! Her family made
this seem like a huge surprise, but did they not think to mention that
they were putting her into a situation in which she was not willing to
be? What's sad is that a family member has arranged to meet her in
Texas, where she will most likely be brought back into the very family
environment that caused her to flee. Nonetheless, her family is denying
the claims of there being a planned wedding, but it doesn't seem like
they are being very truthful as media sources allude to the possibility
that the missing woman admitted to such.
This
case was covered in hink from the beginning, and some people even
fought tooth-and-nail to keep the possibilities of this woman's planned
disappearance out of the media spotlight. Well, the truth can't be
hidden forever, and it's just a relief that this missing woman found
herself in a place that was safe instead of the alternative ideas of
abduction or joining a cult.
If claims of an arranged marriage are
true, then this young woman must understand that in the United States
of America, you cannot be forced to wed anybody you do not want to
marry. There are plenty of resources available to Rajwinder who can seek
help from the government to be placed in a safe house to avoid those
who want to push her into marital slavery against her will. She seems
like a very nice person and regardless of the elements at play, she
deserves to be treated like a human being and not livestock.
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981470135