In just 4 days – girl converted, indoctrinated in IS ideology, and now she is missing

Thiruvananthapuram: After shocking reports said that as many as 16 persons, including couples, have been missing from Kasaragod and Palakkad districts in a suspected case of terror outfit Islamic State making inroads into Kerala, a woman from the capital has complained that her daughter is among those missing.

Bindu, a native of Attukal, said she has not heard from her daughter Nimisha since June 3. Nimisha had converted into Fathima and married one Eeza, who is also believed to have converted.

Bindu said her daughter married Eeza going by the words of some religious fanatics.

“It all happened in just four days,” an emotional Bindu told Manorama News, adding that the police did not act promptly on her complaints.

Nimisha married Eeza when she was a BDS student at a dental college in Kasaragod. Though Eeza was not a student of the college, their conversion and marriage were felicitated by some senior students of the college, Bindu said, quoting her daughter.According to Bindu, her daughter has not contacted her since June 3 after going to Sri Lanka with her husband.

Meanwhile, Eeza’s family on Saturday registered a complaint with the Palakkad police, following media reports. Eeza and his brother, both converted to Islam, and their wives are believed to be missing. Their relatives said the siblings were running business in Sri Lanka.

Bindu explains:

“My daughter was a student of a dental college in Kasaragod. As there was no news about her even by November 11, I lodged a complaint with the local police in Kasaragod. Following which as per a magistrate’s order, the police produced her before the court and she told me that she had married a Muslim. When I asked the boy what had happened, he told me that both Nimisha and he had embraced Islam and got married.

“My daughter told me that she knew the boy only for four days. The magistrate let her go with the boy saying any citizen past 18 years old has the right to embrace any religion. Unconvinced, I approached the then DGP TP Senkumar after a few days and filed a habeas corpus writ. But again, the court let my daughter go with the boy. Then there was no contact between me and my daughter for nearly four months.

“After that I started receiving calls from my daughter who said she was living happily in Palakkad with her husband. She told me I was welcome to their house. Then I went to Palakkad and met her. I told the relatives of her husband that I did not mind her changing her beliefs, but just wanted my daughter back. Later I came to know that my daughter was pregnant.

“By May, she came to my house in Thiruvananthapuram and spent some time there. After three days, my daughter called me and said they were going to Sri Lanka for some business purpose and may not be able to call me for some time. I used to get WhatsApp messages from her until June 3.

“Once I stopped getting messages, I met ADGP Sreelekha in person and registered a complaint that my daughter was missing. I explained everything to her and she tried to console me saying they might still be on the trip. She also asked me to wait till the Ramzan period ends. As I turned more tense, I went to the ADGP again by June 15, but there was no progress in the probe.

“Now I hear that my daughter is among those missing,” Bindu said as she broke into tears.

Meanwhile, Kerala DGP, Loknath Behera said that the police were investigating the case and there was no confirmation as to Islamic State’s links with the case.

The depth and discipline of the terror group in easily finding converts to its cause as well as the near total failure of intelligence agencies in addressing the growing jihadi influence in Kerala is shocking.