Dalit Hindu woman deceived, abused with casteist slurs and forced to convert to Islam by Muslim man posing as Hindu,

Case ID : 0d798b0 | Location : Bara Banki, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 12 December, 2023

Case ID : 0d798b0

Bara Banki, Uttar Pradesh, India

12 December, 2023

Dalit Hindu woman deceived, abused with casteist slurs and forced to convert to Islam by Muslim man posing as Hindu,

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Wears symbols of Hinduism

Forced conversion before marriage

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Rape and sexual assault/harassment

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, an 18-year-old Dalit Hindu girl named Aarti Kanaujia was deceived into a relationship by a Muslim man named Mohammad Salman, who was pretending to be a Hindu man named Sumit Kanojia. After this, the accused lured the victim away. He raped her, and forced her to convert to Islam. He also abused her using caste based slurs like 'Dhobi'. As per reports, the accused Salman was a resident of Lucknow's Itaunja police station area. Salman had posed as Sumit Kanojia to deceive the girl into a relationship. As per the victim's brother, the family had earlier caught the woman video calling a man. When they questioned the girl, she stated that the man’s name was Sumit Kanojia and he was from another village, but of the same caste. The family scolded her and warned her not to contact the man. However, within two days, she resumed her contact with Salman. Salman continued his act of deception and even tried to convince the family that he was a Hindu and wanted to marry their daughter. He used to wear the Hindu sacred thread, Kalawa and a tilak to convince the victim and her family. The mother of the victim told him to wait until the girl’s father returned from work in Kerala. The accused lured the victim away to elope with him on 13th December 2023. He did not reveal his true identity and raped her under the pretext of marriage. The girl discovered his real identity only after they started living together. She also discovered that he was already married. However, by then, he had already taken her to unfamiliar places, deprived her of communication, and sexually assaulted her repeatedly. Salman also forced the girl to convert to Islam. He also told her that he would only marry her if she converted to Islam. When she refused, he abused her using casteist slurs like 'Dhobi' and threatened to kill her and dump her body where no one would find her. As per the victim, she was confined in Maigalganj for around six to seven months. She told the court that Salman used to go out frequently but never took her anywhere, nor was she allowed to step outside even once. The woman was also pregnant by this time, and Salman forcibly gave her abortion pills, leading to a miscarriage. The victim also said that on Salman's instructions, she had taken her mother’s jewellery and Rs 40,000 in cash before leaving with him. Salman sold off her jewellery and used the cash she had brought from home. The victim's brother, Mohit Kanaujia, filed a complaint stating that Salman lured his sister to elope on December 13, 2023. Based on the complaint, police registered a case against Salman and began an investigation. A case was registered against Salman under the SC/ST Act and Section 366 for kidnapping. The police were able to trace the victim on 25th July 2024, more than seven months after she had gone missing. The police recovered the victim from the Mittai Canal Bridge in Barabanki. However, Salman managed to escape. The police then brought her to the station and recorded her statement. A supplementary medical examination was conducted. This case reached the special court in Barabanki. The victim gave her testimony, and the court found her testimony consistent, credible, and unwavering despite cross-examination, noting that the duration, circumstances, and repeated nature of the abuse made her account highly reliable. On 25th July 2024, the SHO submitted a report to the CO, recommending additional charges based on the girl’s statements and medical evidence. Therafter, Salman was charged under Section 376 of the IPC for raping the girl after luring her under a false promise of marriage, and under Section 406 for having misappropriated her jewellery and cash. Sections 504 and 506 were added for casteist slurs and death threats launched at the victim. The court also added Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after it was found that Salman knowingly targeted the girl for being a Scheduled Caste. The prosecution also added Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, since Salman pressured the girl to convert to Islam as a precondition for marriage. The court observed that although the case involved an adult woman, the issue of consent did not arise, as the Muslim perpetrator had obtained her trust through fraudulent means, like posing as a Hindu. He later used coercion, isolation, and threats to continue a sexual relationship under false pretences. The court also held that consent obtained through lies and manipulation is not valid in law, particularly when the victim is confined, cut off from her family, and forced to act under sustained psychological pressure. Furthermore, the Special Judge Veena Narayan of the SC/ST Court declared Salman guilty and announced his punishment of life imprisonment and a fine of a total of Rs 80,000, out of which Rs 40,000 was allocated as compensation to Aarti.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the first sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. Within this, the tertiary category selected is- 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 relevant here is- Brainwashed and/or groomed, and the tertiary category selected is- Rape and sexual assault/ harassment. 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. The other subcategory selected 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. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is 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. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, 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 other subcategory selected 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. Another primary category relevant in this case is - Hate Speech against Hindus. The subcategory is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. In this case, the religious motive behind the crime is evident from the fact that the Muslim perpetrator concealed his true identity in order to entrap the Hindu victim. He faked his name and also wore a Kalawa (a sacred thread worn by Hindus) to make the Hindu girl and her family believe that he was a Hindu. This in itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim’s religion. By hiding his real identity, he exploited her trust and targeted her under false pretences. This demonstrates a premeditated intention to manipulate her based on her religious background. In such cases, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to deceive and ensnare a Hindu individual is not merely an act of personal betrayal, but also it is an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs. It reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus, particularly Hindu women. Subsequently, the Muslim perpetrator lured the Hindu victim under false pretences and then raped her. The victim’s brother’s statement confirms that the accused deliberately deceived his sister by assuming a false Hindu identity to gain her trust and lure her away. This act goes beyond mere criminal behaviour; it constitutes a calculated and malicious attack on her due to her religious identity. By posing as a Hindu man, the perpetrator betrayed the girl’s trust, manipulating her into a situation where he committed the rape. This highlights that the incident is not simply a random case of deception and sexual violence, but rather demonstrates that the crime was motivated by religious animosity towards the victim’s faith. Therefore, the rape committed by the perpetrator is also rooted in hatred for the Hindu girl due to her religious identity, making it a case of religiously motivated hate crime. The Hindu victim was also forced to convert to Islam, and when she refused, Salman issued death threats to intimidate her. This showcases that the entire instance is well well-planned attempt to strip the victim of her Hindu faith, by use of deceit, and death threats. The primary objective of the perpetrator was not sexual assault, but to convert the girl; the assault was a means within a larger, premeditated plan to facilitate her conversion. Such acts are committed by Muslim perpetrators due to deep-seated animosity that they hold towards Hinduism and its adherents, particularly Hindu women and girls. Notably, the woman, in this case, was also issued casteist slurs. It can be argued here that a caste-specific slur is aimed at her micro identity of belonging to the Dalit section of the Hindu community and not her Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while the accused hurled caste abuses at the victim, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. Since this case fits multiple parameters of a religiously motivated crime, it has been added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the woman's ordeal began, but it mentions that the accused lured her away on 13th December, 2023. Since this is the earliest date mentioned, we are considering this as when the victim's ordeal began and using this as the incident date.