An 18-year-old Indian-origin woman has been jailed for three and a half years in the UK over planning to travel to Syria in order to help the ISIS.
Sandeep Samra of Coventry pleaded guilty to a single count of supporting terrorism in planning to travel to Syria in preparation of terrorist, acts at Birmingham Crown Court.
Born to Sikh parents, Samra converted to Islam at the age of 15. Though she claimed she was going to work as a nurse in Syria and not as a fighter, in messages found during the investigation she wrote “May Allah give me death in this cause”, the BBC reported.
Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse told the court extreme content, including ISIS execution videos were found on her phone in 2015 that showed she had become an ISIS supporter.
She was reported by anti-extremism teachers later that year and her father handed her passport to the police after becoming aware that Samra had converted to Islam. She again applied for a passport in June last year. She was arrested in December 2017 after evidence suggested she was preparing to travel to Syria.
The chief investigator said Samra dismissed warning of dangers for women in the conflict and even “declared her intention to seek her own death.”
“The contents [of her phone] gave insight into Samra’s mindset and showed she was developing an active interest in ISIS and Jihadi ideology," the Coventry Telegraph quoted an official as saying.
Investigators said they also found conversations between her and a man which showed they wanted to get married and then travel to Syria.
Judge Melbourne Inman said Samra was “deeply radicalised” by the material she watched.
"You were intent on leaving the UK to travel to Syria as quickly as possible," the judge said. "You were deeply radicalised and in possession of the most extreme material, which you were effectively training yourself to watch given the horrific nature of it."
She has been ordered to serve an extended one-year licence period after her jail term is over.
To see stories from SBS Punjabi on top of your Facebook news feed, click on three dots next to News Feed icon on the top left corner of the screen, click on Edit preferences, then Prioritise who to see first and select SBS Punjabi. 
