Two Arrested Months After Kerala Woman Alleged Forced Conversion

The woman had earlier moved the HC alleging forceful conversion and asked for an NIA investigation.

Muhammad Riyas forcibly enrolled the woman in a madrassa and forged documents to get their marriage registered in May 2016.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Months after a Hindu woman from Kerala moved the high court alleging that a Muslim man tried to convert her to Islam and forged documents to marry her, the Ernakulam police on Wednesday, 10 January, arrested two persons from the city in connection with the case.

The accused have been identified as Fayas (24) and Siyad (48) of Manjali.

The woman had moved the high court in November 2017.

Police officers said that the men were found guilty of helping Muhammad Riyas, the key accused in the case.

An officer said, “Interrogation of the duo is crucial in ascertaining whether her conversion was part of a deliberate attempt to take her to the IS. Those arrested will be produced before a magistrate by Thursday”, reports The Hindu.

In her petition to the HC, the woman had mentioned that Muhammad Riyas, a native of New Mahe, near Thalassery, had taken her to Saudi Arabia, and had plans to take her to Syria thereafter, to be sold as a sex slave to ISIS.

Police have also confirmed that Riyas is known to have fled the country. The arrested duo have been charged with various sections of UAPA and Section 120 (B).

The case was registered on 13 December 2017 based on the woman’s complaint.

Background

The woman, a native of Pathanamthitta who grew up in Gujarat, had met Muhammad Riyas in 2014, while she was studying at a college in Bangalore.

The woman alleged in her petition that in November 2015, Riyas forced her to have sexual intercourse with him.

It also accused Riyas of recording the act to threaten the woman further.

The petition further reads that Riyas forcibly enrolled the woman in a madrassa and forged documents to get their marriage registered in May 2016.

The woman was then taken to Saudi Arabia by Riyas along with his family in August, and there, she was forced to watch videos of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

She later managed to escape and contact her family in Gujarat in October.

(The story first appeared on The News Minute and has been republished with permission)

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