Muslim youth pretends to be Sameer, lures Hindu girl with promises of marriage, then rapes and forces her to eat beef

Case ID : 0b674ac | Location : Almora, Uttarakhand, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 6 July, 2024

Case ID : 0b674ac

Almora, Uttarakhand, India

6 July, 2024

Muslim youth pretends to be Sameer, lures Hindu girl with promises of marriage, then rapes and forces her to eat beef

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Forced conversion before marriage

Forced to eat beef

Case Summary

In Uttarakhand, a Muslim youth identified as Saif, who initially concealed his identity, formed a physical relationship with a Hindu girl from Almora. He took explicit photos of her, kept sexually exploiting her and also forced her to consume beef. The youth, who falsely identified himself as Sameer, was exposed by Hindu organisations and handed over to the police. The girl, who was misled with false marriage promises, was kept in a rented room in Jagatpur and threatened with the dissemination of her photos. When she learned the youth's true identity and community, she sought help from Hindu organisations. Hindu leaders and activists demanded strict legal action against the accused, who is now under police investigation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been listed in the hate tracker under two sub-categories of the prime category- Hate Crimes against women in relationships and sexual crimes. The first sub-category selected as per case details 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 selected here is- Forced conversion before marriage, under which the tertiary category selected is- Forced to eat beef- 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. What gives this case a distinct religious angle is that the Muslim perpetrator actively hid his religion and pretended to be a Hindu to ensnare the Hindu woman. 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. He blackmailed her with her private pictures and forced her to consume beef. Forcing a Hindu to consume beef is not only a profound disrespect to their religious beliefs but also constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime. In Hinduism, cows are revered as sacred animals, symbolizing life and sustenance, and the act of consuming beef is considered highly sacrilegious by many Hindus. Therefore, compelling a Hindu to eat beef goes beyond mere dietary imposition; it is an intentional violation of their religious principles and an assault on their cultural and spiritual identity. In the broader context of hate crimes, forcing someone to engage in behaviour that is expressly forbidden or offensive in their religion is a clear manifestation of religious intolerance. It demonstrates a blatant disregard for the victim's rights to practice their faith freely. Here, the actions of the perpetrator clearly point towards the deep disdain he harboured for Hindus and their religious beliefs. It is evident that the perpetrator targeted the victim because of her religious identity and that his motivation was driven by religious hate. This is why this case has been added to the hate tracker.