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A plea has been filed in the Kerala High Court by a family seeking the return and repatriation of their daughter who joined the Islamic State (ISIS) and their granddaughter.

It is the case of the family that their daughter was brainwashed and is an Indian citizen and that she was taken outside India by an ISIS terrorist, her husband to live with him in in the Islamic state. The family has claimed that Nimisha @ Fatima Isa had no knowledge of her husband being an ISIS terrorist.

The plea has sought intervention and aid in the extradition of Nimisha @ Fatima Isa (Nimisha/Fatima) and her child (a minor) who are presently being detained in Afghanistan.

The parents of the detainee state that since 2019, the daughter of the Petitioner has been detained in a prison in Afghanistan along with her daughter. The plea goes on to aver that till now, no concrete steps have been taken by the Governments to ensure their return.

The petition has been filed by Bindu Sampath, mother of Nimisha/Fatima. Mrs. Sampath states that she raised her children single-handedly and that her elder son serves in the Indian Army. The petitioner is represented by Sunil J. Mathews and Amit Kumar. 

It is averred her daughter surrendered to the Afghan authorities after the leader of the Islamic state Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was killed.

It is pertinent to note that after the death of Baghdadi in 2019, the reins of power of the ISIS dissipated in the Middle East. Various people who were part of the "Daesh"regime had surrendered only after the dissipation. 

Nimisha/Fatima and her husband, Bexan were on the ‘most wanted list’ of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in India. FIR’s had been registered by the Kerala police and NIA 2016 on multiple charges against 21 nationals traveling to Afghanistan to join ISIS, including Nimisha/Fatima and her husband. 

It is the case of the petitioners that the Government has failed to establish any grounds to not have Nimisha/Fatima extradited and that not doing so is violative of Fundamental Rights as envisaged in the Constitution of India.

"The failure to ensure the return and repatriation of Indian Citizens, including a minor child under the age of give stands directly in the teeth of moral and legal obligations of a nation-state towards its citizens, as well as the various international Conventions to which India is a party," the plea states.

Narrating the sequence of events, the family of the ISIS detainee states that Nimisha had gone missing from her college in 2015 after which they came to know that she had converted to Islam and was planning to get married. In fact, Nimisha and her husband were produced before the judicial magistrate in Kerala upon filing of a plea of mandamus for production of Nimisha, whereby they informed the Court that they were traveling to Sri Lanka to open a business. It was only after the same was communicated by the ISIS couple, the Court dismissed the petition. However, it was found that Nimisha/Fatima and her husband were traveling to Afghanistan to join ISIS. The NIA re-registered an FIR against the couple and a Red Corner Notice was issued by INTERPOL against them.

Sampath avers that her daughter converted to Islam and was brainwashed by Islamic Radicals led by Dr. Zakir Naik before she met the ISIS terrorist as well.

It is stated that after her schooling, Nimisha began attending coaching for preparation of medical studies where she met one Sajjad Rehman who introduced her to Islam. Over time, they got close and Nimisha agreed to convert to Islam and without the consent or knowledge of her family, took on the name "Fatima Nimisha".

"As a consequence of the relationship between Sajjad and Nimisha, Nimisha conceived. However, Nimisha underwent termination of the pregnancy.. Thereafter Sajjad cut all ties with her and abandoned her," the plea states, adding that as a result of this emotional trauma, she became susceptible to brainwashing.

The petition mentions that the issuance of a ‘Red Notice’ indicates “a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action" and that in light of the red notice and an existing bilateral extradition treaty between both countries, the Indian authorities are bound to take steps to extradite Nimisha/Fatima.

It is stated by the petitioner that in abandoning Indian citizens, the Government has inadvertently bolstered the falsehoods being propagated by such radical outfits vis-a-vis the state of disconnect and dissociation between the citizens and the country.

It is argued that abandoning of Indian citizens can further create an environment of no fear as similar radicalized elements may be encouraged to leave the country with little to no fear of repercussions. "Any such action of the Respondents, therefore, shall be detrimental to the integrity and national security of India," the plea argues.