Over 2,000 girls missing from different places in Kerala from 2005 onwards, may have been lured into marriage, converted to Islam and repeatedly raped to produce children a brood of at least four â" say Hindu and Christian groups in south India.
The alleged plot, hatched by a group called Love Jihad, recruits young Muslim boys to make Hindu or Christian girls fall in love with them (in a time span of two weeks) and then convert them to Islam in six months.
If the recruits can't make the girl fall in love in two weeks, they are told to move on to the next target.
A Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader who did not want to be named said, "There are over 2,800 girls who have gone missing from Kerala.
They want our girls to be converted and then made to bear children and then force them into terror activities.
We have been getting threatening calls from Saudi Arabia and Dubai for trying to rescue the girls."
Case one
Two women ran away from the abuse and returned to their families.
They have also approached psychiatrists and priests for support. One of these women, Rosy Kurien (21, name changed), a copy of whose complaint to the Kerala High Court is available with this paper, said, "We fell in love with the boys, but came to know of the truth only after we ran away with them.
The boy I eloped with was a senior from my college.
During the courtship period he used to talk to me about Islam and make me read religious books. He told me that after the wedding I would have to convert to Islam."
When asked, if she was sexually abused, the girl said she was and had been told that the motive behind the love affair was for her to bear children.
"His family kept watch so that I wouldn't run away, but I managed after four months of virtual imprisonment," she said. Luckily, Kurien is not pregnant.
Case two
The other girl, Latha Nair (23, name changed) from Pathanamthitta in Kerala, in her statement to the court writes, "I was a MBA student sharing a room with my best friend Anne.
I met a Muslim man, Shahenshah, a senior student, who was helpful and friendly. He became friends with both Annie and me.
"He took us home to meet his family and his mother taught us Islamic rituals. He used to talk a lot about religion and tell us how wonderful Islam was.
"On July 18, 2009, Anne and I ran away â" she with another Muslim guy and I with Shahenshah.
We got married and then he forced me to convert. I heard that one of the girls we were staying with had been sexually abused."
'Sexually abused'
Dr Malika G S, director of Man Shakti counseling centre in Kerala said, "The two girls have been sexually abused, but do not want to admit to it.
When I spoke to them, I realised that the main intention of these people is to increase the Muslim population.
Last year, three girls who had committed suicide had eloped with Muslim boys. They had been then raped by their lovers and their friends."
Jacob Punnoose, director general of Police, Kerala, in his statement to the court said, "It is not established that any particular organisation is actively engaged in religious conversions.
We have received two complaints of conversion and have registered cases and are investigating the matter."
Not God's Will
Maulana Mustakeen Azmi, Maharashtra President Jamait-ul-Ulema said, "I certainly condemn the forceful conversion of the girls into Islam. This is against God's wish.
If one wants to convert of their own free will, that's fine, but this is cheating, if the girls are being forced into conversion."