A 19-year-old Kerala girl Ciyani Benny, who was studying in Delhi, has abandoned her family and fled to Abu Dhabi in the UAE to embrace Islam. Leaving behind her desolate family and an inconsolable mother back in India, Benny fled to allegedly be with her lover.
Her father, who believed that his daughter had been kidnapped, had filed a missing persons report alongside a police complaint in Delhi saying that their daughter has been kidnapped while her college mates petitioned the Chief Justice of India stating: “an Indian national has been abducted by forces that have been creating havoc around the world.”
Now Benny has come up with a statement in which she has confirmed that she left India on her free will for love and rubbished reports that she has been “abducted and coerced” into joining a terrorist group. She said that she was free to make her own decision as an adult Indian Citizen. According to reports, Benny has also changed her name to Aisha after embracing Islam.
“This is not true. I have found my true calling and have come to Abu Dhabi of my own free will. No one forced me. I am an adult citizen of India and can make my own decision,” Benny told Gulf News. Benny has now changed her name to Aisha.
Benny, who studied in Delhi University (DU), attended classes until 11 am on September 18. However, the same afternoon, she took a 2.45 pm GoAir flight to Abu Dhabi. After reaching Abu Dhabi Benny converted her religion and adopted Islam to get married to her boyfriend, whom she got acquainted with on social media about nine months ago.
Her parents, originally from Kozhikode in Kerala, said they fear their daughter “could have been misled/cheated/brainwashed/abducted and led astray with very nefarious designs like joining an outfit such as Islamic State (IS) or being used as a slave,” which Benny refuted in her statement.
In a letter to the Home Ministry, Chief Minister of Delhi and National Minority Commission, Benny confirmed that she embraced Islam on September 24 in a court in Abu Dhabi and wishes to follow the religion throughout her life.
Benny reiterated the same things when she received a call from the Indian Embassy. She said that she has been attracted to Islam for a long time and has been studying the religion for a while now. She furthered that since she had started reading Namaz and praying in the Arabic language her parents started believing that she had been brainwashed.
Ciyani Benny, now Aisha, confirmed that she wished to stay in Abu Dhabi and intends to marry her boyfriend soon.