Muslim couple pressurise Hindu women to convert to Islam, threaten to leak their videos if they do not accede to the conversion demands
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 
13 June, 2024
Case Summary
In Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, a religious conversion racket was exposed involving a couple, Mustafa and Hina, who ran a sewing and embroidery centre. The couple pressured Hindu women, who visited the centre to learn sewing, to convert to Islam. Mustafa also committed an obscene act with a Hindu girl and recorded it to blackmail her. On June 14, 2024, the victim, a Hindu girl, was locked inside the centre by Hina. During this time, Mustafa arrived and behaved inappropriately with her while secretly recording the act. Two days later, Hina also recorded an obscene video of the victim and began pressuring her and her friends to eat food from outside. When the victim refused, Hina threatened to leak the video unless they converted to Islam. The victim, fearing for her safety, lodged a complaint on September 11. She revealed that Mustafa would often harass Hindu women at the centre, pressuring them to eat with him and convert to Islam. The victim also expressed concern about the safety of her and her friends. Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR against Mustafa and Hina under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 342, 354, and 294, along with sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. On September 14, the police arrested both Mustafa and Hina.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the hate crime database under the prime category- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the core category of Predatory Proselytisation because there is a distinct component in this case, which essentially involves harassment and threat to convert the Hindu victim to Islam. 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 have 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 and forceful circumcision. 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 in an attempt to make the Hindu victim abandon his/her professed religion and adopt the religion of the perpetrator. In this sub-category, we would include cases where the non-Hindu perpetrator harassed, threatened or coerced the victim to convert, however, the Hindu victim did not convert to another faith. Cases where the victim was converted owing to the harassment and threats 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 case involving Mustafa and Hina in Moradabad is a glaring example of predatory proselytisation, wherein the accused employed coercion, threats, and harassment to undermine and forcibly alter the religious identity of Hindu girls. Operating a sewing and embroidery centre as a front, Mustafa and Hina exploited their position of trust to manipulate and control vulnerable women. The couple systematically targeted these women, using the guise of a professional relationship to exert undue influence. Mustafa’s obscene actions, combined with his and Hina’s threats of blackmail and harassment, exemplify the predatory nature of their scheme. By recording and threatening to release compromising videos, they sought to instill fear and compliance, thereby coercing the victims into conversion under duress. Their tactics, including pressuring the victims to partake in specific activities and eat food with them, were designed to strip these women of their religious identity. Since exploiting vulnerabilities for the explicit purpose of conversion is purely based on animosity towards the victim's faith, this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
