Azam Zaidi lures a Hindu girl into marriage by posing as Hindu, rapes and tortures her after being exposed
Bara Banki, Uttar Pradesh, India 
14 September, 2024
Case Summary
In Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh a Hindu woman and her daughter pleaded for justice in court. The woman revealed that Mohammad Azam Zaidi had deceived her by posing as a Hindu and later harassed her after marriage. Following a court order, a case was registered, and the accused was arrested on September 15. According to Assistant Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Narayan Singh, the woman stated that Zaidi befriended her under a false identity and lured her into a relationship. They married in 2016, but she discovered his true religion afterwards and protested. Zaidi then began assaulting her and threatened to kill their daughter. When she resisted his abuse, he divorced her. Despite her attempts to reconcile, the harassment continued, prompting her to file a complaint. Zaidi had also pressured the woman into a physical relationship, and when she became pregnant, she forced him to marry her. They wed in September 2016, and she gave birth to their daughter in 2017. His behaviour worsened, and he eventually abandoned her and the child.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the prime category- Hate crimes against women in relationships and sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. Within this the tertiary category selected is- Raped after Hindu woman finds out real identity. Men pretend to be Hindu- When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The religious motive of the crime in this case is evident from the fact that the Muslim perpetrator hid his true identity to trap the Hindu victim. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. Further, the religious angle of the crime became more apparent when the Muslim man inflicted torture on the woman when his true identity was revealed. When a person deliberately conceals their religious identity and pretends to be a Hindu to deceive and ensnare a Hindu woman, this act transcends mere deception and enters the realm of a religiously motivated hate crime. It violates the victim’s trust and disrespects her religious beliefs. This act of deception is an affront to the victim's religious and cultural identity and is an insidious form of religious intolerance that seeks to exploit and undermine the very fabric of the victim's community, which is why this case has been documented in the hate tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
