‘Husband’ of Kerala woman who wanted to sell her to ISIS denies all allegations

Months after a 25-year-old Hindu woman in Kerala moved the High Court, alleging her Muslim ‘husband’ forced her to convert to Islam and was planning to sell her to ISIS, Muhammed Riyaz, the accused, denied all the claims.

The woman has also sought a National Investigation Agency probe into the case for charges including forced conversion, forging of documents to make the marriage look legal and sexual exploitation.

At a press meet organised in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, Riyaz said that all the allegations against him were false. 

Speaking to MediaOne, he said:

"I don't know why she is saying this; all of this about the ISIS link is not true. She stayed with me here in Jeddah for a month on tourist visa and had to leave to India since her father took ill. She went back and suddenly this complaint surfaced." 

Riyaz, who works in Jeddah, said that he had married the woman with her full consent and that she had come to Jeddah to live with him out of her own will. He also claimed he hadn't forged documents to get married to the woman, as claimed in her petition to the High Court. 

"I am sure she wouldn't give a statement against me on her own will. I am 100% sure about that. I don't know what has happened," Riyaz said. 

Riyaz's father, Abdul Rasheed, told Media One that Riyaz and the woman had come to Saudi hoping to lead a peaceful life. 

Riyaz's statements comes only days after the Kerala police arrested two persons from Ernakulam for allegedly helping Riyaz.

24-year-old Fayas and 48-year-old Siyad of Manjali were arrested and charged with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The petition

The woman, originally from Pathanamthitta in Kerala, resides in Gujarat along with her family. According to her petition to the HC, she escaped from the custody of Riyaz in Saudi Arabia and flew back to India in the first week of October. 

The petition states that her forceful conversion and subsequent fraudulent marriage to Riyaz were done with the help of Popular Front of India (PFI) members in Kannur.

The woman was studying in a college in Bengaluru in 2014, where she met Riyaz. Her petition reads that in November 2015, he allegedly coerced her into having sexual intercourse with him. He allegedly recorded the act and threatened the woman into having a sexual relationship with him. 

According to the petition, Riyaz then forcefully admitted the woman to a madrassa in Bengaluru, following which he forged documents, including her Aadhar card (with her new Muslim name), to get their marriage registered in May 2016.

Riyaz and his family "got a wealthy gift of money and gold ornaments from some unidentifiable sources for converting a non-Muslim to a Muslim”, alleges the petition.

She also claimed that he forced her to watch videos of controversial preacher Zakir Naik, who is being closely monitored by NIA for his alleged terror links. 

She added that she was confined to the house he had rented in Saudi Arabia and was harassed, physically and mentally.

Read the story in detail: 'Forcibly converted, ‘husband’ wanted to sell me as ISIS sex slave': Kerala woman moves HC