After fight with husband, woman files case: NIA steps in to probe ‘forced conversion’

Ahmedabad, Jan 29: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided to probe into the claims of forced conversion of a Gujarat-born Malayali woman, who married a Muslim man from Kerala and after a fight with him accused him of trying to take sell her to terrorists in Syria.

Based on the complaint lodged by Akshara Bose (25), who had moved the Kerala High Court last year against her husband Mohammad Riyaz, a native of Thalassery, the NIA registered the case on Sunday, January 28. The case, which was earlier handled by the police, will now be handled by the NIA.

The NIA had, in November last year, said that it was ready to take up the investigation into the case if the HC wanted. The agency is already probing the Hadiya case, wherein the Supreme Court had recently ruled that the investigation could go as planned, except that her marriage to Shafin Jahan would not be probed.

What’s the Case?

Bose, born into a Hindu Ezhava family, is originally a native of Pathanamthitta in Kerala and resides in Gujarat along with her family. In her petition to the High Court, she had said that she met Mohammed Riyas while she was studying in Bengaluru.

She accused Riyas of forcing her to have sexual relations with him and recording the act. He then blackmailed her into converting to Islam and marrying him, after which Bose took the name Aisha, she told the court.  

She further alleged that he forged her Aadhaar card, got the marriage registered, and also forced her to listen to sermons by Dr Zakir Naik. She also accused her husband’s mother of colluding with him and alleged that they received gifts, in cash and kind, for converting a non-Muslim. She said she was also forced into wearing a veil and supporting ISIS.

Bose had gone to Saudi Arabia too along with Riyas in 2017. However, in her complaint, she alleged that she was forced to go to Saudi Arabia, where she was confined to a rented flat and was told that they would move her to Syria to “sell her to ISIS terrorists.”

She claimed that she managed to get in touch with her parents somehow, who got her a ticket back to Ahmedabad. She also alleged that there was a threat from Riyas and an activist of the Popular Front in Kerala.

However, those who know the couple closely claim that it was a love marriage and not a forced conversation. The woman decided to take revenge against him husband after a fight with him in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, sources from NIA said that the agency would probe into all allegations made by the woman including forced conversion and attempt to sell her to terrorists.