Bengaluru: Four men from Bengaluru along with five others from Kerala have been booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their alleged involvement in ‘love jehad’ and attempting to sell a 25-year-old Gujarat-based Kerala woman as a sex slave to the banned global terrorist organization - Islamic State - in Saudi Arabia after forcibly converting her to Islam when he married her. The case was earlier registered and investigated by the Kerala police.
“Unlike the Hadiya case in which she had stated that she had willfully converted to Islam and married her husband, this is the first case in which the complainant has alleged that she was forcibly converted to Islam and married to the prime accused,” said an official spokesperson.
The NIA, which is examining cases of alleged forced religious conversion in Kerala, following a Central government order re-registered the case - RC-01/2018/NIA/KOC – on January 28 in Kochi against Muhammed Riyas Rasheed from Peruvaram Mannam, Kerala (A1), Nahas Abdulkhader (A2), Muhammed Nazish T. K. (A3), Abdul Muhasin K, from Kannur (A4), Danish Najeeb from R. T. Nagar, Bengaluru (A5), Gazila from Diamond Street Bengaluru (A6), Fawas Jamal from Peruvaram, Kerala ((A7), Moin Patel from R. T. Nagar, Bengaluru (A8) and Iliyas Mohammed, also from Bengaluru (A9) besides others for criminal conspiracy, rape, wrongful confinement, forceful conversion, attempt to disrupt communal harmony and charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
“The complainant had met Rasheed while studying in Bengaluru in 2014 and was allegedly blackmailed by him later. She has alleged that he got married to her in 2016 using forged documents. The two stayed for some time in Bengaluru. This is where the four accused from Bengaluru may have helped Rasheed with funds and logistic support. For some reason she went to Kerala and Rasheed filed a habeas corpus (missing) complaint in January 2017. She subsequently returned to Bengaluru and in August last year he allegedly took her to Saudi Arabia with the intention to sell her to ISIS cadres in Syria. She managed to escape from there,” said an official spokesperson.
On her return she approached the Kerala High Court seeking an NIA probe against Rasheed, who she alleged, had lured her, raped her, recorded her objectionable photos/videos on phone, forced her to follow the controversial preacher Zakir Naik, had forcibly converted her to Islam, married her through deceit by forging documents, created fake passport, illegally confined and threatened her before taking her to Jeddah in August, 2017 to join ISIS.
Rasheed had received funds and assistance from the other accused persons, she had alleged in her complaint.
“The Kerala police had arrested two suspects in the case – Fawas Jamal and Mohammed Siyad. They are being questioned by the NIA. The other accused are absconding,” the officer added.
The case has been registered under Sections 120B, 153A, 342, 368, 376, 354C, 384, 385, 417, 465, 471, 468 and 34 of Indian Penal Code besides Sections 10, 11, 13, 18B and 20 of the UAPA.
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The NIA, re-registered the case on January 28 in Kochi against Muhammed Riyas Rasheed from Peruvaram Mannam, Kerala (A1), Nahas Abdulkhader (A2), Muhammed Nazish T. K. (A3), Abdul Muhasin K, from Kannur (A4), Danish Najeeb from R. T. Nagar, Bengaluru (A5), Gazila from Diamond Street Bengaluru (A6), Fawas Jamal from Peruvaram, Kerala ((A7), Moin Patel from R. T. Nagar, Bengaluru (A8) and Iliyas Mohammed, also from Bengaluru (A9) besides others for criminal conspiracy, rape, wrongful confinement, forceful conversion, attempt to disrupt communal harmony and charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
