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Kerala woman who converted to Islam claims 'Muslim friends misguided her'

Kashmir Times. Dated: 9/25/2017 12:14:00 AM

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 23 (Agencies): At a press conference in July this year, 23-year-old Hindu woman Athira had said that she had wilfully converted to Islam. On Thursday, this woman from Kerala did another press conference and began by saying "Om Namah Shivaya". The woman has returned to Hinduism claiming that her Muslim friends had “misguided” her into changing her faith.
From a woman clad in hijab in July to appearing with a bindi and kumkum on her forehead, she says that a doubt regarding her religion was instilled in her mind. Speaking to the press, she said that her friends told her that "it was stupid to worship a stone, an idol and that Hinduism has many gods, while Islam has only one supreme god. When they said that, I felt very curious about it and when I thought about it, I felt what they said was right."
She said that her friends gave her books to read on Islam and the account of hell in those books scared her. "The description of hell in that book was so scary, that I lost my sleep for several nights. I began thinking that if I don't follow Islam, then I will have to go through that hell."
She also said that her friends even made her watch speeches made by Zakir Naik.
Athira wrote a 15-page letter before leaving her parents' house in the first week of July saying that she was going to study Islam. She had then changed her name to Ayesha. She even tried to convince her parents to convert and got upset when they didn't.
After her parents filed a complaint, she surrendered before Kannur police on July 27, and was sent to state home for women. When her parents sought her custody, they were given the permission on the condition that she would be allowed to practise Islam.
However, on Thursday, she claimed that she is converting to Hinduism again. She took the decision reportedly after making a visit with her parents to the Arsha Vidya Samajam, where she studied Hinduism. “I then came to realise that my decision to convert to Islam was wrong. I did not have much knowledge about my faith then. I do now,” she said.