Brother NSG commando, sister goes missing after marrying ‘new IS convert’
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s a predicament no mother would want to find herself in. Until last year, Bindu Kumar thought her two children were set for life as they had got into careers of their choice – the son an armyman on deputation to the National Security Guard (NSG), and the daughter studying to be a dentist.
But the events of the past few months have devastated Bindu, as it becomes increasingly clear that her daughter Nimisha could be among the 20-odd people who have disappeared mysteriously from Kerala’s two districts and are now feared to have joined the Islamic State (IS) terrorist outfit.
“We fear the worst. All 20 are off the radar for more than a month. Out of four messages the relatives have received, one is from Afghanistan and another from Egypt. The other two we couldn’t decode. We will be able to track their passport and visa entries by Monday. We think they are in a trouble-torn area now,” says a senior intelligence officer who did not want to be identified.
Bindu is yet to come to terms with the bitter reality and does not want to embarrass her son with the latest developments.
“My children were religious and patriotic. My son wanted to be a military officer and daughter chose the medical profession. We were happy when both got the careers of their choice,” says Bindu, aresidentof Thiruvananthapuram, pleading not to publish any details about her son.
Her husband runs a small restaurant in the city. “Mom’s sweet daughter going to bed, sweet kisses,” this was the last message Nimisha sent to her parents on June 3. When the mother called her back the next day, Nimisha’s phone was switched off. The worried mother then contacted her daughter’s in-laws. But they pleaded helplessness, saying the young couple (Nimisha was said to be pregnant) had told them that they were going to Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage.
A bright student with a modern outlook, Nimisha got admission into a dental college in north Kerala’s Kasargode district when she was 19 years old. “During the four years of her college, we never had an inkling of any change till last November when she refused to take my calls. I rushed to the college, only to be told that she had married a Muslim youth hailing from Palakkad,” says Bindu.
The mother was later told that Nimisha had married 30-year-old Bexin Vincent, a Christian MBA graduate who took the name Eza after converting to Islam.
“She used to share all her experiences in college with me. But this was a terrible shock for me,” says Bindu. Brokenhearted, she returned home to Thiruvananthapuram and sought help from a senior police officer who advised her to move a habeas corpus petition in the high court.
Nimisha was produced in court in November. But the court let her go with her husband as she had completed 18 years of age.
“I was shocked to see my daughter, who loved to wear casual dresses, in full purdah (veil). I was not allowed to talk to her fearing I may change her mind. I literally begged before both,” says the distraught mother, adding later she came to know that her daughter was pregnant. Bindu somehow established contact with her later. “Once she asked whether I would accept her if she came in a burqa. I told her she was welcome,” the mother says. The last time Nimisha visited home was on May 16. During Nimisha’s last two visits, Bindu noticed that her daughter had developed an aversion towards TV programmes.
“Once when I said being pregnant she should be consulting doctors regularly, she said she had once and did not believe in modern medicines any longer,” Bindu says, adding the baby is expected in September. Bindu met Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday, seeking his help to trace her missing daughter. “My tears have dried up. I can only pray now. I hope God will help me in tracing my daughter who will turn 24 next month.”