Sharmeena Begum

Sharmeena Begum (born 1999) is a jihadi bride who left the United Kingdom to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in December 2014.

Two months later, in February 2015, her school friends Amira Abase, Shamima Begum, and Kadiza Sultana (who collectively became known as the Bethnal Green trio) joined her in occupied Syria.

[4] Begum's father said that her behaviour had changed; she stopped listening to Western music and began going to her room to pray, but he assumed that she was grieving about her mother's death.

[5][6][7] Women from the group that recruited her have been described as "brainwashing" her, telling her that she would meet her recently deceased mother in paradise if she died a martyr, and reportedly brought her to the airport for her departure.

[11][12] After his daughter's disappearance, Uddin told police about his suspicion that Begum might have been encouraged by Islamists and her three friends might also be at risk.

[13] Begum was joined two months after her departure by her three friends from Bethnal Green Academy, who had also made their way to Syria via Turkey.

[14][15][4] Jasmine Jawhar, author of Terrorists' use of the internet: The case of DAESH, said that Begum and her school friends were "mesmerised by the 'romantic idea of jihad'".

According to the BBC's report, Begum was living in hiding in Syria, raising money for ISIL through social media.