Shah Alam of Ghaziabad poses as Brahmin to trap married Hindu woman, threatens to kill her children if she refuses to convert
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 
12 June, 2024
Case Summary
In Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, a Hindu mother had a dispute with her husband, during which time Shah Alam posed as a Brahmin man named Sahil and befriended her. He established a sexual relationship with the victim for 7-8 years on the pretext of marriage. He later started backtracking on his promise and putting pressure on the woman to convert to Islam. When she refused, the accused assaulted her and threatened to kill her family. The police registered an FIR on June 24, 2024, and took the accused Shah Alam into custody. Shah Alam, the son of Hasam Ali, who resides in the Modinagar police station area, came into contact with the victim while she was separated from her husband. He assured the woman that he would leave Islam and adopt Hinduism. He also promised to marry the victim. The accused took one and a half lakh rupees from the victim to start some work. On June 13, the victim asked Shah Alam to fulfil his promise of marriage. This made Shah Alam angry. He threatened the woman, refused to quit Islam, and said, “Don’t ever talk about marriage to me again. If you report me, I will kill you.” The woman then reached the police station along with members of the Hindu Jagran Manch and reported the incident. She stated that Shah Alam introduced himself with a Hindu name Sahil and identified himself as a Brahmin. Shah Alam reportedly told her, “I am a Mohammedan. I will not marry you. If you want to marry me, go to the village mosque and recite the Kalma.” He also threatened to kill the victim along with her children.
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'. Further, two sub-categories under this prime category have been chosen to break down the case. 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 under which this case has been placed 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 third sub-category relevant here is, 'Assault or threat upon refusal to convert' 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. The religious motive of the crime 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 continued to take advantage of her physically under the guise of marriage, but when the girl pressed him to honour his word, he forced the woman to give up her professed faith and convert to Islam. He targeted the victim specifically owing to her religious identity and after that, tried to forcefully change her religious identity to Islam. Further, when his real identity was revealed to the victim, he not only refused to quit Islam but also threatened to kill her and her children. This was an arm-twisting tactic to coerce the victim into complying with his conversion demands. This case has been documented in the hate tracker as every detail points towards the fact that the perpetrator wanted to target the victim because of her religious identity specifically and that his motivation was driven by religious hate.
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 
