Kerala woman gets 7yr jail for helping 15 people join IS

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Kochi on Saturday awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment to Yasmin Ahmed, a native of Bihar, for helping 15 youngsters of north Kerala slip out of India and join extremist outfit Islamic State (IS).

This is the first verdict in an IS-related case in the state.

Ahmed was arrested from Delhi international airport in July 2016 when she was about to leave the country with her minor son. Later, the Kerala police made her an accused in the case of 15 missing persons (total 21) who reportedly joined the IS. The case was eventually handed over to the NIA.

While delivering the verdict, the court said Ahmed was aware of the youngsters’ plan to join the extremist outfit and helped them. The court examined 52 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness and nearly 50 material objects and found that she was guilty of waging war against the country.

The prosecution said while she was teaching at the Peace International School, she came in contact with Abdul Rashid, the leader of the group of missing youngsters.

Yasmin did all the ground work for the youngsters to slip out of the country and was in touch with Rashid constantly. She was supposed to leave with the others, but her trip was delayed because she could not get travel papers for her son done in time, prosecution said.

At least 21 persons, including six women and three children, had gone missing from the state in June 2016 and were reported to have joined the IS, sending shock waves across the country.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: