The alleged suicide of a 23-year-old woman in Kerala’s Ernakulam district after she was allegedly tortured by a man and his family who insisted that she convert to his faith has triggered a row, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.

The woman, a college student Sona Eldose, was found dead at her home in Kothamangalam town on Saturday, The Hindu reported. The police had initially registered a case of unnatural death.

However, a purported suicide note was recovered, following which the police on Monday arrested the man, and charged him with abetting suicide and physical assault. The man was identified as 24-year-old Ramees.

Ramees, a part-time employee at the Kochi airport, had also been picked up by the police two weeks earlier on allegations of “immoral trafficking”, The Indian Express reported.

Basil, Eldose’s brother, told reporters that Ramees and his sister met in college.

She was earlier willing to convert her religion and marry him, he said. “But three months ago, our father died, and the marriage could only be held a year later,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

He claimed that Eldose changed her mind about converting after Ramees was caught for alleged trafficking.

“But he was insistent and wanted to stay at a religious centre at Ponnani [in Malappuram district] for two months,” Basil said. “They even made arrangements to take her there. When she refused to go, Ramees and his family members tortured her after detaining her at their house.”

In her purported suicide note, Eldose claimed that she had forgiven Ramees after he was caught for alleged trafficking and that she was ready for a registered marriage without the religious ceremonies.

“But he wanted me to convert,” The Indian Express quoted her as purportedly saying in the note. “After taking me out of my home under the pretext of registering the marriage, he lodged me at his house, where his family members insisted that I should convert. When I refused, they tortured me.”

The woman eventually returned home and allegedly died by suicide.

Unidentified police officers told the newspaper that Eldose had sent the note to Ramees’ mother on Saturday. She also informed her own mother, who, upon returning home, found that Sona had died.

After the incident came to light, the Kerala Hindu Aikyavedi, a Hindutva outfit, and the Syro-Malabar Church described it as a case of “love jihad”, The Indian Express reported.

Love jihad is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslim men trick Hindu women into romantic relationships with the aim of converting them to Islam. The Union home ministry has told Parliament that Indian law has no provision defining such a term.

V Babu, the state chief of the Kerala Hindu Aikyavedi, claimed that the “secular” society in Kerala was busy criticising the film The Kerala Story even though it reflected the truth.

The film, which released in May 2023, claims to depict how women from Kerala were converted to Islam and recruited by the Islamic State terror group. The filmmakers initially claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined the Islamic State, but when asked for evidence, they altered the trailer to state that the movie was a “compilation of the true stories of three young girls”.

Critics have accused the film of spreading misinformation and inciting communal hatred.

The Syro-Malabar Church said that political parties should show the courage to oppose all tendencies that pose a threat to secularism, the newspaper reported.

“It is sad that girls still fail to understand the religious extremists who make use of genuine love as a weapon of betrayal,” it said in a statement. “It is expected that the law will take its course. Or, are we going to see the law taking the course of certain organised forces?”