NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency ( NIA ) informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that it has gathered evidence indicating that Akhila Asokan was brainwashed in her difficult academic conditions to embrace Islam by Salafi preachers and then abetted into marriage to Shafin Jahan to overcome the proceedings initiated by her father in Kerala high court.

However, NIA said it had not come across any evidence about about her plans to travel to Syria to join Islamic State/Daesh. In its status report, the NIA said, “Akhila Asokan aka Hadiya was converted to Islam by puritan Salafi practitioners Shirin Shahana and Fasal Musthafa, who are understood to be in Yemen now. Advocate K A Aboobakar, who prepared affidavit for Akhila to join Sathya Sarani, has stated that Akhila was planning to go to Yemen for further Islamic studies during January 2016.”

While restoring Hadiya’s marriage to Jahan, which was annulled by the Kerala HC, a three-judge bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra asked additional solicitor general Maninder Singh what section was invoked by the NIA in its FIR. Singh said the agency had registered a case under Sections 153A (creating enmity and hatred between two communities), 295A (deliberately insult the religion or religious belief of another community) and 107 (abetment to conversion) of Indian Penal Code.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising laughed and said, “Here are two adults who got married for love and they are being accused of spreading hatred and enmity.”

The NIA’s report said, “Shafin Jahan, who married Hadiya aka Akhila Asokan, had online acquaintance with Manseed Muhmood aka Mansi Buraaq and Safvan P, arrested IS cadre and chargesheeted accused persons relating to IS’s Omar Al Hindi module case probed by NIA.”

“Sathya Sarani and various leaders or activists of Popular Front of India and its political wing Social Democratic Party of India (PFI/SDPI) have played vital roles in the religious conversion of Akhila Asokan to Islam and her subsequent marriage to hardcore PFI activist Shafin Jahan. A S Sainaba and her husband Aliyar, since January 2016, had utilised the organisational apparatus of the PFI/SDPI to shelter Akhila aka Hadiya, to facilitate her conversion to Islam and marry her off to Shafin Jahan.”

PFI and SDPI had provided legal assistance to Hadiya in Kerala HC to fight a case against her father who was seeking her custody, the NIA said and gave details of the role played by various activists of PFI and SDPI in Akhila’s conversion to Hadiya.

