Mini Mariyam is the mother of Merin Jacob from Kochi who converted from Christianity to Islam. Merin left India with her husband, earlier a Christian named Bestin Vincent from Palakkad who embraced Islam and became Yahiya, presumably to join the ISIS. Mini has only one explanation why her daughter could have done this: “She was brainwashed.” Merin was working as a trainee with a multinational in Mumbai when one day she just left.
Merin and Bestin were school sweethearts. But the relationship broke when she went on to pursue her degree. The family was not aware when and how the two met again. “They must have met after she went to Mumbai, Merin’s father Jacob tells you. He also says that when she was home a few months back, she would read the Quran and talk at length about it. The parents were ready for their daughter’s marriage with Bestin but when inquiries were made, all was not right.
Similar was the conversion into Islam, marriage and disappearance of Nimisha from Thiruvananthapuram, according to her mother Bindu. Nimisha, a Hindu, took the name Fatima after conversion and left India with her husband Eeza, earlier a Christian named Bexin Vincent, the elder brother of Yahiya.
Nimisha, was a final-year student of Bachelor of Dental Surgery student from Kasaragod, Kerala, when she converted into Islam. “I don’t know how she, like the girl next door, got converted into Islam,” Bindu tells you.
The two brothers and their wives could have left India, reportedly for Sri lanka, sometime around June. Bindu and Nimisha were in contact with each other till June but there has been no contact after June 4. The last time they spoke, Nimisha said she and her husband were going to Sri lanka. But in the last voice message Bindu received from her, she had said they were in a place where Indian phone numbers would not work. All that Bindu and Mini are now praying for is the safe return of their daughters. A message that Bindu received from Nimisha on June 3, 2016 read — ‘Mom’s sweet daughter going to bed, kisses’.
Mini thinks that Merin has gone to Sri lanka for religious studies. The parents had made inquiries about her in Palakkad after she went missing but no clear information was received from Yahiya’s house. There are reports that a person from Kasaragod, who has also left India to allagedly join the IS, could have been behind the conversions.
According to Bindu, Nimisha had embraced Islam in November last year. The mother had approached the court after she had gone missing. The court permitted her daughter to go with her husband, ‘who was known to be a man with extreme Mujahid positions’. Though Bindu had brought all these incidents to the notice of the police, not much help came from them, she says. “If the police had taken me seriously and acted accordingly, this situation might not have arisen,” Bindu says.
Merin and Nimisha are not alone to have converted into Islam to allegedly join the IS. There have been reports that more had converted to Islam, one being Ayisha, the wife of Abdul Rasheed, who is said to be the chief organiser of the group. Ayisha, an engineering graduate, was a Christian named Sonia before her conversion into Islam a year ago.
According to sources, Rasheed left India taking Ayisha, who had reportedly turned a preacher after conversion, and their little daughter Sarah along.
