Hindu student harassed and pressured to convert to Islam by her Muslim professor

Case ID : 152df0c | Location : Vadodara, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 10 January, 2025

Case ID : 152df0c

Vadodara, Gujarat, India

10 January, 2025

Hindu student harassed and pressured to convert to Islam by her Muslim professor

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

An assistant professor at Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) in Vadodara has been accused of stalking, harassing, threatening and forcing a female student to convert to Islam. The student filed her grievance with the university's Women's Grievance Redressal Cell, prompting immediate attention to the matter. Based on preliminary findings, the professor was suspended with immediate effect. The student, in her complaint, stated that Dr Mohammed Azhar Dheriwala, from the Department of Hindi in the Faculty of Arts, repeatedly gestured for her to come to his room. Upon her refusal, he threatened to ruin her career. The complainant also stated that Mohd Azhar followed her to her residence, attempted to defame her, and harassed her via WhatsApp messages. She also said that the professor not only harassed her but also attempted to coerce her into converting to Islam. Another female student and a friend of the victim spoke to the media about the alleged harassment. She said, "My friend, who is studying in the second year of her Master’s degree, was asked by the accused professor to work under him for NET preparation. He also brainwashed her, claiming he would secure her future. When she did not comply, she was mentally harassed. The professor used to call her alone to his house and office, where he would hug and kiss her inappropriately when no one was around. My friend told me about this, and I tried to protect her. I was also mentally harassed as the professor would ask me about her whereabouts. He would call and text me, but when I didn’t respond, he came to our neighbourhood and spread false information about us.” Regarding the alleged coercion for religious conversion, the victim’s friend said, “It’s true. He used to pressure her, saying that if she converted to his religion, he would help her pass. He was pressuring her a lot.” The mother of the victim’s friend stated, "He should be suspended and never allowed to work anywhere again. He used to engage in Hindu-Muslim discrimination. That daughter is from Rajasthan, and this professor, Azhar Dheriwala, used to call her repeatedly. She stopped going to college. Later, he started pursuing my daughter and used to call her asking about the girl. When she did not respond, he spread misinformation about my daughter. We have submitted a written complaint with evidence to the Faculty Dean. We don’t want an apology because he has harmed our daughter too much." MSU Registrar K M Chudasma confirmed that the issue was treated with urgency upon being brought to the committee's attention. "After reviewing the complaint, the committee launched an investigation, and the allegations were deemed serious at the preliminary stage. As a result, the professor was suspended, and his office was sealed," he stated.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Harassment, threat, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker under the above-mentioned category and sub-category due to the professor's deliberate and manipulative attempts to use his position of authority to force the student into religious conversion. The professor, leveraging his power as an educator, engaged in persistent harassment and intimidation to coerce the Hindu student into renouncing her faith and converting to Islam. Such behaviour is not only a violation of the student’s personal and religious freedoms, but it also highlights the exploitative tactics used by individuals in positions of power to pressure vulnerable individuals into religious conversion. The ultimate aim of these actions was to strip the student of her professed Hindu identity, forcing her into a religious shift against her will. The clear religious markers in this incident, specifically the singling out of the Hindu student and the coercion to abandon her faith and convert to Islam, establish a clear religious motive. Such acts reflect an underlying animosity towards the student's Hindu faith, making it evident that the motive for this harassment was rooted in religious prejudice. Therefore, the case has been added to the tracker.