Muslim wife and in laws convert minor son to Islam by forcibly circumcising him, husband forced to convert
Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, India 
11 January, 2022
Case Summary
In Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, a Muslim woman and her family were booked for forcibly circumcising her minor son against the wishes of her Hindu husband, Chittaranjan Sonwani. The incident came to light after the child, who was also given a Muslim name, was taken by his mother to her maternal home. The circumcision was done secretly, and Chittaranjan only discovered it days later. Enraged, he and his community, supported by the Tribal Security Forum and former minister Ganesh Ram Bhagat, approached the police for action. The police, after investigating, recorded the statements of the child and his parents. An FIR was registered against the mother, maternal grandmother, and aunt under non-bailable sections, including charges under the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act. The child's mother and grandmother were arrested, while the search for the aunt continued. Chittaranjan also revealed that his in-laws had repeatedly pressured him to convert to Islam, offering various temptations, including a car, but he refused.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been placed in the hate tracker under the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation. Under this, the first sub-category chosen is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion- Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement- Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. Here, a Muslim woman and her family forcibly circumcised her minor son against the wishes of her Hindu husband and also gave him a Muslim name. The element of forced circumcision makes this case a distinct case of a religiously motivated hate crime as the perpetrator tried to use the tactics of intimidation to convert a minor boy to Islam. Though circumcision is not a prerequisite to converting to Islam, however, it is often seen that it is used as an intimidatory tactic to make the Hindu victim abandon his/her professed religion and adopt the religion of the perpetrator. Further, the religious motivation becomes more apparent when the Hindu man, himself, confirmed that his in-laws also tried to lure him into conversion by offering him various temptations, including a car, but he refused. Since the underlying offence was against children of a specific faith and both harassment and inducement were used as tactics to alienate the victims from their professed faith, this case has been added here.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 2
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
