Parents of Kerala ‘love jihad’ victims unite

Kochi : The parents of alleged ‘love jihad’ victims have floated a collective to bring back their daughters and somehow influence the government to take action against the culprits.

Speaking at a press conference in Kochi on Saturday, Ashokan KM, the father of Hadiya (born Akhila) and Bindu K, the mother of ‘Nimisha’ (who allegedly joined ISIS), claimed that the children of 30 families were ‘love jihad’ victims. “It is sad that government and police are adopting an attitude that’s favouring the terrorists in such cases. This forced us to form this collective,” Ashokan said.

“Many girls have committed suicide whereas some of them were killed or subjected to sexual abuse. Nobody knows where they are now. NIA and police investigated cases and revealed names of many individuals and organizations who are the real culprits and accomplices. Still, police and government have failed to take action,” Bindu said.

In December 2016, Shefin Jahan married Hadiya who had already embraced Islam. But, her parents refused to accept her marriage and claimed that that she was being indoctrinated. On the basis of a petition filed by Ashokan, the high court annulled their marriage in May 2017 and she was sent home. Later, the Supreme Court observed in January that Hadiya’s marriage cannot be questioned. She was sent to a college in Salem to pursue studies.

A petition filed by Nimisha’s parents before the apex court states that their daughter was lured into a relationship, abused, impregnated, forced to abort, converted to Islam and finally abandoned by one Sajjad Rehman, while she was studying in college. Later, she was forced into marriage by one Isa (Baxen), who had converted to Islam from Christianity. Now, she is believed to be in one of the provinces under control of ISIS in Afghanistan.

Source : TOI