At Least 4 Missing from Kerala Converted to Islam in Recent Years

At least four of the 16 people who have gone missing in Kerala over the past one month converted to Islam in recent years, their family members have said.

Two brothers Yahya and Easa , were Christians from Palakkad district, who became Muslims. Yahya's wife Merin Jacob and Easa's wife Nimisha also subsequently converted to Islam.

The four were among at least 16 people - all of them Muslims - who went missing from Kerala since May.

There is no confirmation on where the two brothers and their wives might have headed to.

The agencies are now probing immigration details to understand how they might have left the country.

Earlier, Intelligence sources have confirmed that at least two among the missing total 16 have joined the Islamic State.

One of the missing woman Nimisha, a final year dental student from Century college in Kerala became Fatima after she got married to Easa a year ago.

Her mother Bindu who confirmed this information added that she was told by Nimisha's friends that she used to download videos of controversial preacher Zakir Naik's speeches.

Nimisha's mother has also told CNN News 18 that her daughter and her husband had left Kerala in May 2015 on the pretext of business engagements in Sri Lanka.

The mother says that she hasn't spoken directly to Nimisha alias Fatima since May apart from the occasional voice messages.

When she was asked about her location, a message from Nimisha's Facebook said that she was in some remote location.

"I have the last information through Whatsapp on June 4th. After that no messages, calls or voice messages. On June 15 I went to Palakkad to my son-in-law's family and told them to take this issue seriously and give a joint complaint. They also agreed," Nimisha's mother Bindu added.

On Sunday, Bindu met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and handed over a copy of the police complaint she had registered a month back.

Vijayan assured her that the state police is investigating the matter along with central agencies like IB and the matter has been taken very seriously.