Murtaza converts a minor Dalit girl before marrying her, girl dies while giving birth
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India 
29 June, 2024
Case Summary
In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, a case of religious conversion and child marriage involving a minor Dalit girl came to light. On 11th August 2024, police arrested two additional suspects, including a Maulvi, after earlier detaining Murtaza, the minor's husband, and her mother. The situation unfolded after the girl's father passed away, and her mother became involved with Murtaza. He pressured the mother to let him marry her 15-year-old daughter. In 2023, Murtaza, much older than the girl, married her and forced her to convert to Islam. The conversion and child marriage reportedly took place in a Bahraich district mosque, with the involvement of Maulvi Mohammad Ahmed. Renamed Sania after the conversion, the young girl became pregnant but died during childbirth. Her burial was conducted secretly according to Islamic rituals. The girl's uncle filed a complaint on 30th June 2024, leading to the arrests. The investigation revealed Murtaza's father's involvement, which also resulted in his arrest. The case was pursued under various legal sections, including the SC/ST Act and the POCSO Act.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the hate tracker under the prime-category- Hate Crimes against women in relationship and sexual crimes. The sub-category selected under the aforementioned category 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. A Muslim man who converts a minor Dalit girl before marrying her, ultimately leading to her death during childbirth, is indeed a clear case of religious hate. Since the Hindu victim was a minor, the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Secondly, the act of converting the girl to Islam before marrying her is a significant aspect of this case. It suggests that the marriage was conditional on her changing her religious identity, which is a form of coercion. This forced conversion, especially when imposed on a minor who may not fully understand the implications, is an act of religious dominance and control. It strips the individual of their religious autonomy and forces them into a belief system against their will. The act of converting the girl before marriage, followed by her tragic death, reflects religious bigotry. It shows a complete disregard for her original religious identity and cultural background. This form of bigotry is further highlighted by the fact that the conversion was likely a tool to assert religious superiority and control over her life. It reflects broader issues of the denial of religious freedom, marking it as a case driven by hate and bigotry. Another distinct element of the crime is grooming. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
