Muslim man poses as Hindu and traps Hindu girl, forces her to convert after girl finds true identity
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India 
19 March, 2024
Case Summary
In Jodhpur, Rajasthan, a Muslim man named Balu Mohammad deceived a Hindu girl by posing as Balu Singh on Instagram, claiming to be Hindu. He also expresses that he regularly visited the temple. Their online friendship soon turned into love, and Balu travelled from UP to Jodhpur to meet the girl. During this visit, they developed physical relations. When the girl expressed her desire to marry, Balu revealed his true identity and demanded she convert to Islam for the marriage. Shocked and betrayed, the girl informed her family and reported the matter to the police. Bajrang Dal's advocate, Jitendra Pancharia, along with other Hindu organizations, supported the girl and demanded strict action against Balu.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the crime was committed while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. As per case details, the prime category under which this case has been placed in the hate tracker is 'hate crime against woman in relationship'. Two sub-categories under this prime category have been chosen here to break it down further. The first sub-category relevant in this case is, 'man pretends 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 second sub-category relevant in this case is, 'Forced conversion before marriage' 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. The victim in the case was a Hindu woman. The Muslim man specifically targeted the woman based on her religion as evidenced by the fact that he pretended to be a Hindu and visited the Temple to deceive her. Thereafter, the religious motive of the crime became more apparent when he started forcing the victim to convert to Islam when the girl expressed her desire to marry. Such actions are not random but are directed specifically at individuals because of their religious affiliation. Whenever a man deliberately hides his religious identity to deceive a woman from a different faith into a relationship he intends to exploit the woman based on her religious identity. It is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. This targeted attack is a direct expression of hate and intolerance towards the victim's religion, hence this case has been classified as a religious hate crime.
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 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
