She Wanted a piece of Land. They Saw Jihad.

The true story of Anisa, a 50 year old poor widow who was portrayed as a Jihadi. She prayed on a busy road, desperate for justice. The internet called her a jihadi. OBC talked to everyone involved, and this is what really happened.

On January 28, a video of a woman in a white burqa performing Namaz at a busy junction went viral online. The incident occurred at the IMA junction in Palakkad district of Kerala. Soon, the visuals went extremely viral on social media, especially on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Online right-wing accounts shared the visuals with communal annotations and linked the incident to the alleged “Islamic radicalisation” happening in Kerala. The woman in the video was also targeted with misogynistic comments, and several users propagated the AI-altered version of the original video showing the woman doing the namaz being killed.

The woman who became the subject of the viral video is T Anisa, a 50-year-old daily wage laborer, widow, and mother of two daughters. Is she a jihadi as alleged by frenzied right-wing social media profiles? Was it a manifestation of radicalization as propagated by the right wing? No,this is far from the truth. The facts tell a different story.

Offbeat Concerns (OBC) reached out to Anisa, her brother Abdul Hakim, her lawyer, the police, and an eyewitness who was present at the time of the incident. What emerged is the gripping story of a helpless, underprivileged woman desperate to get the attention of state authorities to claim her legitimate share of the family property.

Anisa’s story

Anisa’s life has been one of relentless struggle. One of five children born to Kajahussain, a daily wage laborer in Coimbatore, she was married off at the age of 13. Education was never an option. Her husband, Thajudeen, like her father, scraped by as a daily wage laborer. For Anisa, survival meant Anisa taking whatever work she could find. ‘I have done everything—from begging to domestic work,’ she says. ‘I have been doing all kinds of menial jobs for years.’ Today, at 50, she works as a helper at a restaurant, still struggling to make ends meet. Anisa has two daughters, both married. She now lives alone in a rented house. Anisa’s husband, Thajudeen, who hails from Muthalamada in Palakkad, succumbed to cancer 8 years ago.

What drove Anisa to take the extreme step of blocking traffic by offering namaz at a busy intersection? It was, as she explains, an act of ultimate desperation—a last attempt to claim her rightful share of the family property.

After assessing the situation, police released Anisa with her brother Abdul Hakkim without pressing charges—they had understood this was not a case of religious extremism. The Palakkad South CI told OBC that it was a gesture of protest and there was nothing religious or communal about it. We also talked to Abdul Hakim, and this is what unfolded through his own words.

“My brother-in-law (Thajuddeen, Anisa’s husband), who was a driver, was diagnosed with cancer. My sister was struggling to meet the expenses of his treatment. During this time, my brother-in-law’s father passed away, and his brothers quietly sold the entire 1 acre and 58 cents of agricultural land without informing him or Anisa. My sister went to demand her rightful share of the sale proceeds. They offered her ₹2 lakhs, which she refused as it was far too little, and demanded more. They engaged a lawyer to fight for it legally, but the case stalled after his death”. Abdul Hakkim further said that the brothers recently sold another 8 cents of land at a different location again without their knowledge. When they confronted the brothers, they were offered ₹3.5 lakhs—again, what he called a pittance. Anisa refused and tried to negotiate a fair amount, but the brothers wouldn’t budge.

In December 2025, Anisa sent representations to the Chief Minister, the Palakkad Collector, and the Superintendent of Police, Palakkad. According to Anisa and her brother, they received no positive response that would give them hope of getting justice. They were instructed to approach the civil court.

On 12th December 2025, Anisa lodged a complaint at the Kollengode Police Station to register a case against the brothers for cheating and forgery under Section 420 of the BNS. The police attempted to mediate the issue twice. During the second mediation, both parties were summoned to the Kollengode Police Station for negotiation, but the situation turned volatile.

“Majeed and Basheer (the brothers of the deceased Thajudeen) were present there. They abused and harassed us. I was physically assaulted outside the Police station’ says Abdul Hakkim. Based on his complaint, an FIR was lodged on December 23, 2025, by the Kollengode Police.

“My sister and her daughters received no financial support even after her husband’s death. She somehow managed to marry off her daughters. She has nowhere to go and is demanding her rightful share so that she can buy a piece of land and build a house,” says Abdul Hakkim.

When we spoke with Anisa, she explained why she had taken the drastic step of offering namaz in the middle of the road as a form of protest. Cheated by her husband’s family and exhausted from years of fighting, Anisa could find no better way to draw the attention of the authorities to her plight. She says she has been fighting for her rightful share of the family property to secure her daughters’ future. Both daughters, now living in Tamil Nadu, do menial work to make ends meet. They live in rented houses, and Anisa desperately wants to secure their legitimate share of the property.

According to Anisa, she has been fighting this battle for 32 years. Every door, she says, has been shut in her face. All that remains is prayer—her last appeal, not to the system that has failed her, but to God.

Anisa has no idea her protest has gone viral, or that it has been weaponized to spread hate against Muslims. For an uneducated woman living in poverty, the online mob condemning her is a world she doesn’t even know exists.”If I were a Hindu, I would have prayed by lighting a sacred lamp. If I were a Christian, I would have prayed by lighting a candle. Since I am a Muslim, I did namaz to pray and register my protest” says Anisa.

How Anisa’s protest was weaponised to fuel hate

On January 28, right-wing media portal Janam TV shared the visuals on their Facebook page with the Malayalam caption stating that a woman performed namaz in the middle of a busy road in Kerala that caused a traffic jam.

As of January 29, the post garnered 12,000 likes, 11,400 comments, and 4,300 shares.

Believing that the woman is exercising her faith on the road, a user commented, “All this is done by someone sitting behind the scenes. There is a clear plan behind this.” Another user stated, “Sanghi disguised as a clown. Besides, there are mosques available for you to pray.” Taking a dig at Kerala’s political scenario, a user remarked, ‘If anyone interferes with this, the comrades’ mass prayer and mass circumcision could have been seen tomorrow.” Targeting the woman’s dressing, a user remarked, “Damn it!! Totally covered but not the dirt of the mind”.  Several users also suggested that the woman might be having a mental breakdown.

Several right-wing X accounts also shared the video with communal captions.

On January 28, Kreately.in shared the video with a caption, Mashallah! Namaz in the middle of a busy road. 📍 Palakkad, Kerala.”

As of January 29, the post received 93,100 views, 4,900 likes, and 2,200 reposts.

Inciting communal violence, one user remarked in response to the post, ‘We should learn from Pakistan and Bangladesh on how minorities should be treated in a country.’ Another user stated, ‘Just a trailer of what’s to come if Congress and their Jihadi friends come to power in Kerala.’ In a similar tone, a user commented, ‘Shame on Hindus who allowed this to happen. Can’t expect a jihad-enabling kaumi commie government to act.’ However, we noticed that some users suggested it was not namaz but a protest.

Similarly, the right-wing account Maharathi shared the video on January 28, with a caption, ”This dangerous mindset is spreading into Kerala too.🚨🚨 At Palakkad’s busy IMA Junction, traffic was brought to a halt because a MUSLIM woman chose the middle of the road to offer namaz. Public roads are not personal prayer halls. Faith cannot override law, safety, or the rights of thousands stuck on the road.”

As of January 29, the post got more than 19,900 views.

Commenting upon the demography of Kerala, a user stated, “Kerala has moved on to level 2 of Islamisation. Public Assertion stage. They do what they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. In the next domination stage, ‘others’ will be made to do what they want, where they want, and when they want.” While another user remarked, “She should be put behind bars, irrespective of religion, these things can be done only if your mind is unsound, they are a threat to society. Such people can be made to do anything; suicide bombers had bombs, but she doesn’t have it yet. That’s the only difference.”

Blaming the secular framework of Kerala, a user shared the video on January 28, suggesting that such incidents, especially from Kerala, indicate a dangerous level of Islamic incursion in the state.

Linking the Incident to Extremism

Replying to a Megh updates post on X about links between a LeT commander and Hamas, a user shared the viral visual with the caption, “It’s not Namaz; it’s a display of strength They don’t offer prayers like this, they deliberately block roads to challenge nonbelievers Their intention isn’t religious practice; it’s to send a message, see, you can’t do anything – Act of Testing patience.”-thus framing the incident in extremist terms.

AI Versions and the Inherent Hate

We discovered that users started sharing AI versions of the visuals on X. Responding to the Kreately.in a post dated January 28, a user, Invisible Truth, shared an AI-altered version of the video on January 29. The video was edited to show a van taking a reverse in order to put the woman doing namaz in harm’s way.

Endorsing such acts, a user responded, “Great use of AI. They know Hindus/Keralites are too nice to do that, especially to the perennial victim community. They take full advantage of that.”

On January 29, calling the incident “Traffic Jihad”, a user altered the original video using Artificial Intelligence to make it look like a suicide bomb attack.

Anisa only wanted what was hers—a piece of land, a roof over her head, justice for her daughters. Instead, her desperate act became fodder for those seeking to sow hate, twisted into a symbol of everything she never was. A widow’s fight for survival was recast as religious extremism, proof that for some, facts matter far less than the narrative they wish to create.