10 months after Faisal's murder, his father embraces Islam

Ananthakrishnan, who hails from Tirurangadi in Malappuram, embraced Islam and has changed his name to Muhammed Musthafa Musthafa performed the necessary rituals at the Mounathul Islam Sabha conversion centre in Ponnani Anil Kumar alias Faisal, 30, was murdered by an armed gang allegedly with the support of his relatives in Kodinhi in November 2016

Ten months after Kodinhi Faisal was murdered allegedly by RSS activists for converting to Islam, his father has become a Muslim.

Ananthakrishnan, who hails from Tirurangadi in Malappuram, embraced Islam three weeks ago and has now changed his name to Muhammed Musthafa, according to a Times of India report.

Musthafa performed the necessary rituals at the Mounathul Islam Sabha conversion centre in Ponnani. He has reportedly been learning Islam at the Popular Front of India's (PFI) Sathya Sarani religious study centre in Manjeri.

Anil Kumar alias Faisal was attacked and murdered by an armed gang allegedly with the support of his relatives in Kodinhi in November 2016, six months after he embraced Islam in Riyadh, where he worked. His wife and children had also converted a week before his death.

The police had arrested 16 RSS workers, including Faisal's brother-in-law Vinod, in connection with the case. Vinod had allegedly suspected that Faisal will try to convert more family members.

Faisal's mother Meenakshi converted and changed her name to Jameela weeks after her son’s murder, while two of his sisters, a brother-in-law and their children also embraced Islam later.

The murder had triggered protests by Muslim organisations across the state. Meanwhile, RSS activist Vipin, who was an accused in the Faisal murder case, was hacked to death in Tirur allegedly by SDPI workers last month.