Bindu Sambat, mother of dental student Nimisha who was believed to have defected to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, said on Wednesday that a youth from Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram was primarily responsible for her daughter’s “radicalisation.”
The middle-aged homemaker had unintentionally crossed the threshold of private life into the harsh glare of publicity following unconfirmed, but nevertheless unsettling, reports that Nimisha and husband were among the 10 “missing” families from Palakkad and Kasaragod believed to have “joined” the self-styled Islamic caliphate.
At a press conference here, Ms. Sambat displayed the photograph of the youth who she claimed had befriended Nimisha at an entrance coaching centre here. Their courtship continued in Kasaragod where Nimisha joined a private dental college.
Nimisha converted to Islam at the youth’s instance and assumed the name of Fathima. The rites of conversion were solemnised at the office of a Salafi group here.
The youth ditched Nimisha after she became pregnant. Nimisha aborted her pregnancy. She later met Issa, a recently divorced neo-convert like her. Both got married in Kannur.
Ms. Sambat said the youth “responsible” for her daughter’s “plight” had been trying to reach out to her. The MBA graduate’s marriage was fixed next month.
Police statement
She had met the press prior to giving a police statement on the youth’s “role” in the episode.
He had similarly “destroyed the lives” of at least three other girls. The youth had boasted that his familial influence and wealth protected him from the law. He aspired for a civil services career. Ms. Bindu said she wanted to alert society to the danger posed by such characters.
Nimisha was in a state of advanced pregnancy and was expecting her child in August.
The mystery surrounding the “missing families” and the imputation that they could have joined the IS have provided outsize propaganda value for divisive forces on either ends of the religious spectrum in Kerala and threatened to deepen social divisions in largely secular polity.
