France's most wanted woman radicalized by the man she married

Paris, Jan 10: Hayat Boumeddiene is on the run, armed and dangerous. She is today France's most wanted woman and has been accused of killing a female police officer at a Paris suburb, but there is no clarity as to whether she was connected with the Charlie Hebdo attack.

Radicalised by the man she married, Boumeddine is today France's most wanted woman. Her radicalization process into the world of bloody jihad began after her marriage to Amedy Coulibaly, the terrorist who was killed yesterday at a supermarket when the French police chased down the Charlie Hebdo killers.

Who is Hayat Boumeddiene?

The 26 year old dark and shadowy figure was married to Coulibaly and it is said that her radicalization process took place following this. She is of Algerian origin and met Coulibaly while she worked as a cashier.

However, following her meeting with Coulibaly she appeared to take a different view to life. When she was questioned by the French police in 2010 in connection with Coulibaly's dealings largely in the drug world, she said that he inspired her.

Inspired by religious books:

"My husband inspired me a great deal. I was told about the massacres in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. At that time I raised the question, who are the real terrorists. The Americans are the real terrorists," she also told the French police.

She further went on to state that every man had the right to defend his religion and retaliate the killing of innocents. I used to read a lot of religious books after meeting with Coulibaly and my perception changed entirely she said to the police while looking extremely calm and composed.

Coulibaly's journey into Jihad:

He started off as a petty criminal. Booked for theft as a 17 year old, he later went on to be associated with the drug mafia. His criminal record indicates that he was also involved in a bank robbery back in 2002.

His connection with Charlie Hebdo killers, the Kouachi brothers is not clear. However, there are reports to suggest that they were in touch. They are believed to have met during a recruitment camp of the Al-Qaeda which was conducted in Paris.

Radicalisation in jail:

The case of both Coulibaly and Cheriff Kouachi is similar in terms of the radicalization process that they underwent. Both these persons had spent a considerable amount of time in jail.

While Cheriff was sentenced to 18 months in prison for trying to join a camp conducted by the AL-Qaeda, Coulibaly did jail time for offences ranging from theft to drug dealings. At the time of being sent to jail both had shown signs of reformation and none of the French authorities found any reason to believe that they could come back and shake up a nation so hard.

It is believed that a massive radicalization process takes place in jail where there are several inmates belonging to various terrorist groups. The radicalization of the two men could have well taken place inside the jail, reports would also suggest.