Hindu woman misled by man using kalava and false identity, later threatened and blackmailed for conversion

Case ID : 0b676e3 | Location : Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 16 August, 2024

Case ID : 0b676e3

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

16 August, 2024

Hindu woman misled by man using kalava and false identity, later threatened and blackmailed for conversion

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Wears symbols of Hinduism

Name Changed

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

In Khoda, Ghaziabad, a Hindu woman, Mansi Agarwal (name changed to protect her identity), filed a detailed complaint revealing how she was deceived and abused by a man she met on Facebook in 2015. At the time, Mansi was a college student in Lucknow, and Faizan, who claimed to be a final-year B.Tech student, presented himself as a Hindu named Akshay by wearing a kalava and visiting temples regularly. Mansi entered into a relationship with him, and he promised marriage. However, things took a turn when Akshay lured Mansi to a hotel in Lucknow under the pretence of celebrating their relationship. There, he raped her, falsely reassuring her with the promise of marriage. He then arranged for her to work at Safa Public School, which she later realised was a Muslim institution. Akshay continued to abuse Mansi, frequently under the influence of drugs like LSD and cocaine, subjecting her to repeated sexual assaults, including forced unnatural sexual acts. Whenever Mansi became pregnant, Akshay would secretly mix contraceptives into her food, causing miscarriages. In February 2016, Akshay moved Mansi to a flat in the Crossing Republic area of Ghaziabad, where the abuse escalated. Mansi pleaded with him to marry her for years, but Akshay kept avoiding the topic. When she refused to continue the sexual relationship, he threatened to share explicit photos and videos of her online to blackmail her into submission. In 2018, Akshay’s mother and sister visited Ghaziabad. During this visit, Mansi discovered that Akshay’s real name was Mohammed Faizan and that his mother and sister, Shagufta Parveen and Fauzia, were complicit in the deception. When Mansi confronted them about Faizan’s actions, they pressured her to convert to Islam, telling her that she could marry Faizan if she adopted Islam, as their religion allowed him to have multiple wives. Mansi eventually filed a police complaint detailing her years of abuse, deception, and the coercion to convert.

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. There are two sub-categories selected under the aforementioned category. The first is- man pretends to be Hindu- under which the tertiary categories selected are- name changed and wears symbols of Hinduism. 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- 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. A Muslim youth posing as a Hindu, wearing a kalava (a sacred thread worn by Hindus), and establishing a sexual relationship with a Hindu woman under false pretences is a clear case of religious hate. In Hinduism, the Tilak and Kalava hold deep religious, cultural, and spiritual significance. It symbolises protection, blessings, unity, and commitment to spiritual and ethical principles. Its use across various rituals and ceremonies underscores its importance in the Hindu way of life. By exploiting religious symbols and rituals sacred to Hindus, the Muslim accused not only betrayed the woman's trust but also showed a profound disrespect for her faith. This deceptive behaviour, followed by threats to leak intimate pictures and force the woman to convert to Islam to marry him, is not only a violation of trust but also an attack on the woman's religious identity. The act of assuming a false religious identity to deceive and manipulate someone into a relationship is inherently malicious. It undermines the victim's right to make informed decisions about their relationships, especially those that involve significant cultural and religious dimensions. The subsequent coercion to convert to Islam adds another layer of religious hate, as it attempts to strip the victim of her religious freedom and force her into a belief system against her will. This type of exploitation, particularly when it involves coercion, threats, and religious deception, highlights a profound disrespect for the victim's faith and autonomy. It is a deliberate and calculated attempt to exert control over her, using religion as a tool of manipulation and domination. Such actions are rooted in religious intolerance and are clear manifestations of religiously motivated hate.