Week after she left to study Islam, Hindu girl still missing

Kerala police are yet to locate a 23-year-old woman who left home allegedly to study Islam. Athira, a native of Kaniyambadi, Udma in Kasargod, is missing for a week and the cops are still clueless about her. 

The parents filed a missing complaint with Bekal police station after they got a letter from Athira. The post graduate student had left behind a 15-page letter stating that she is leaving to learn Islam and will return on completing her studies. Athira also urged her parents not to look for her. 

The family members said that she left the house at 8.30 am on July 10 on the pretext of going to the hospital. Athira then called her maternal uncle over the phone and said that she is leaving home to learn Islam. Her phone is not reachable since then.

Police had questioned her brother after doubts that he knew about her move and had supported her. The officials are also planning to question some of her friends. 

Athira was a post graduate student at Government College, Kasaragod. Though the officials are saying that she is not likely to have left the state, they have extended investigation to Mysore.

There are allegations that the missing of Athira is yet another case of love jihad. In the letter, Athira has mentioned all the incidents in her life from school to college days and explains how she got attracted to Islam. The letter reveals that she was attending classes on Islam for a long time, police said. 

Meanwhile, a Facebook post of A V Siva Prasad, former SFI state leader and DYFI Uduma block secretary, is going rounds on the internet. He had alleged that  Government College, Kasaragod, is a target of a lobby that persuades students for conversion. He later deleted the post after some persons belonging to a political outfit started to use it for the wrong purpose. 

However, we managed to find it on some other persons Facebook. 

Siva Prasad had written on his post that Athira was in a relationship with a youth, belonging to another religion. Though the matter was reported to Athira's brother, he took it lightly.

The youth with whom Athira was seen later got married to another girl belonging to his own religion, the politician wrote. 

He further states that nine students of the college have become victims of love jihad in last seven years and only one of them got married to the youth who lured her into conversion. He also urged parents and students to be beware of the dangers of love jihad. 

• Missing girl
• Love jihad
• Islamic studies
• Islam
• conversion