Another case of alleged grooming jihad was reported from the Malappuram district, Kerala. This time the victim is a young Christian lady named Emily, and she was recently engaged to another man. Emily had joined an optometry course in Tirur.
Shahjahan (26) from Chamravattom near Tirur in Malappuram district groomed the 19-year-old victim from Changanassery in Kottayam district. Emily recently disappeared, and when her sister contacted her over the phone, the girl was in tears. She informed Alfi that she was not accompanying Shahjahan out of love but was forced.
Emily said that if she resisted Shahjahan would kill both the sisters. Her family approached the police and noted that Shahjahan belonged to a gang that traps non-Muslim women through narcotics. Police registered a complaint and asked the couple to come to the police station.
Shahjahan brought Emily along with him, and the couple claimed that they were in love and wanted to live together. Police presented the victim before the Changanassery court. Emily, who earlier told her family that she was not in love, changed her statement and informed the judge that she wished to go with Shahjahan.
A group of youngsters accompanied Shahjahan to the court premises, but his parents or relatives did not. Instead of going back to Tirur, Emily was allegedly shifted to a radicalization center in Kayamkulam.
Her family alleged that the victim changed her statement since she was coerced and faced death threats.
Alfi, a nurse with the health department is posted at Tirur in the Malappuram district. She brought Emily to Tirur just three months back, and their mother accompanied them. They rented a house and began staying there.
A gang of locals led by Shahjahan and a few locals came forward and befriended them. The victim’s family alleged that those who came to assist them had other intentions.
Christians form less than half a percentage of Tirur’s population. Radical Islamists use narcotics, threats, and other tactics to groom non-Muslim girls in Kerala. Until society accepts that grooming jihad exists, forced conversions using threats and drugs will continue.
