Aquib Mir poses as a Hindu to trick married woman into Nikah, extorts money, forces her to wear hijab, beats her when questioned about multiple affairs
Jammu and Kashmir, India 
19 May, 2024
Case Summary
On May 20, a video showing a man named Aquib Mir beating his wife went viral on the social media platform X. It was discovered that Aquib from Bathandi, Jammu, had deceived the woman by posing as a Hindu named Ravi Rajput to start a relationship in 2021. The woman, who was already married and vulnerable due to her husband's alcoholism and health issues, became close to Aquib after he contacted her on Instagram. Aquib's true identity was revealed when the woman saw his real name on Snapchat. He confessed to deceiving her to gain her trust, claiming he loved her. Despite her initial refusal to marry him, Aquib threatened to kill her son. He coerced her and her mother into signing Urdu documents, which turned out to be a Nikahnama (marriage contract). Subsequently, Aquib manipulated her into selling her jewellery worth Rs 42 lakhs and used Rs 32 lakhs to buy property. He also forced her into a physical relationship. He proudly admitted to having relations with multiple women. When she confronted him about transferring property to her name, he said, “Do you think that I am in love with you? I wanted money and that I got. Now shut up otherwise I will kill you. Stay within your limits. Wear a hijab. Do house chores. Otherwise get out.” Aquib's abuse continued, including physical assaults and forced conversion to Islam. Aquib claimed to be secular on social media but in reality, he was an Islamist. He would tell the victim not to worship Hindu Gods and wear a Hijab. The woman left his house after the violence became unbearable. He would beat her up whenever she questioned his multiple affairs. Aquib, who has denied the love jihad allegations and claimed it was only a property dispute, was previously linked to BJP but was removed after multiple accusations from other women surfaced.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Three distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the Muslim perpetrator committed the crime while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. Firstly, the religious motive of the Muslim perpetrator becomes apparent from the fact that he actively hid his religious identity to deceive the Hindu victim. 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 second component in this case which makes it worthy of being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime is that the Muslim accused forced his Hindu partner to convert to Islam and deceitfully married her as per Islamic laws. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. The relationship in such cases is mostly consensual and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. In such cases, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. Third, the Muslim perpetrator assaulted the victim after she refused to accede to his conversion demands. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces threats or assault after she refuses to convert and change her religious identity owing to pressure/force by the non-Hindu man. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts pressurizing the Hindu woman to convert to Islam and upon her refusal, assaults or threatens the victim. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force or threat, are not considered a part of the hate tracker, even though, it may be argued that the woman was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam.
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
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
