Indian bishops warn on love jihad

Kochi : The Vigilance Council of the Catholic bishops of India's Kerala state has alerted all believers against the activities of the so-called 'love jihad' said to be adopted by Muslim extremists to convert women by marrying them. Call has been issued by KCBC Social Harmony and Vigilence Commission Secretary Fr Johney Kochuparambil.
He, says around 4,000 girls have been converted to Islam through the "holy war through marriage" method.The "love jihadi" (warriors) operate in campuses, slowly win over young women's confidence before proposing marriage.When the girls accept the marriage, they are converted. "After that nobody knows what happens to these girls," he explained.
The alert was raised when two women, a Hindu and a Christian, students of a Catholic business school converted to Islam after falling in a "love jihad" trap.
After their families complained to the High Court about their daughters' disappearance, the young women were produced in the court. The court allowed them to go with their parents after the young women testified that Muslim youths had forcibly converted them to Islam after trapping them using the method.
It was in Mangalore that this phenomenon of love with religio-polical intentions started, Fr Johney pointed out. Several girls who had gone there for nursing education fell prey to the jihadians. Posing as lovers with their good behavior, they trap girls in sexual relations and blackmail the girls to convert, Fr Johney said. He requested all parents to monitor mobile phones and computers of their daughters to make sure they do not fall into the hands of men with ulterior motives.