Hindu woman commits suicide after sustained harassment by Muslim man, was forced to wear burqa and read Quran
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India 
28 September, 2025
Case Summary
A Hindu woman named Shailu committed suicide in Badnagar, Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, after sustained harassment while living with a Muslim man named Monu. The 22-year-old had left her family two years earlier and was residing with Monu in a live-in relationship. Later, the duo got married. On 29 September 2025, her family was informed that Shailu had died by hanging inside the house. Relatives stated that Monu and his family had been subjecting her to religious coercion. She was not allowed to step outside without wearing a burqa, was prevented from visiting temples, and was pressured to read the Quran. Her brother Dinesh further revealed that shortly before her death, Shailu had confided that Monu was forcing her to adopt Islam, wear a burqa, and offer namaz. Anguished by her death, Hindu organisations, including Sakal Hindu Samaj, gathered outside the Badnagar police station. They demanded Monu’s arrest under the provisions of love jihad and the demolition of his house. The protest lasted nearly an hour, with participants raising slogans against the accused. Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Jitendra Pandya also reached the spot and directed officials to ensure a case was registered to prevent recurrence of such incidents. SDM Dhirendra Parashar assured the protestors that two FIRs were being lodged, while SDOP Mahendra Singh Parmar pledged strict action after investigation. Following the agitation, authorities demolished the illegal portion of Monu’s house in Gulab Nagar with a JCB machine. Vishwa Hindu Parishad functionary Vasudev Rawal said that Hindu organisations across the region had mobilised immediately after the incident and warned of further agitation, including a citywide bandh, if stringent action was not taken against the accused.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory under this is: Suicide for being forced to or pressured to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with a non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change her religious identity 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. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner to convert, the Hindu woman commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu woman. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the woman committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. Another subcategory under this is: Forced conversion after marriage. The tertiary categories under this are: Forced to wear Hijab, Forced to read Kalma, and Forced to do Nikah. In such cases, a non-Hindu man marries a Hindu woman, and the force/pressure to convert to any Abrahamic faith, like Islam, begins after marriage. 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. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act, where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu man starts to pressure the woman to convert her religion after marriage. 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. This case has been included in the Hinduphobia Tracker because it exemplifies a pattern of religiously motivated harassment and coercion against a Hindu woman, resulting directly in her death. Shailu’s suicide is not an isolated domestic or interpersonal tragedy but the culmination of systematic pressure and restriction of her religious freedoms by a non-Hindu partner, Monu, and his family. The facts of the case indicate that the persecution she faced was explicitly tied to her Hindu identity, making it a hate crime against Hindus. From the outset, Shailu was subjected to sustained religious coercion. Her basic religious rights were systematically denied: she was not allowed to leave the house without a burqa, prevented from visiting temples, and pressured to read the Quran. This is significant because it demonstrates targeted suppression of her Hindu practices, directly attacking her religious identity. Additionally, her brother Dinesh stated that she had confided that Monu was actively forcing her to adopt Islam, wear a hijab, and offer namaz. These coercive actions were ongoing, severe, and directly related to her Hindu faith, demonstrating that the motive of the perpetrator was religious in nature rather than merely personal or interpersonal. The escalation of these pressures ultimately led Shailu to take her own life. Suicide in such cases is a direct consequence of relentless coercion and intimidation by the non-Hindu partner and his family, which included restricting freedom of movement, imposing religious practices foreign to her faith, and denying her basic rights to practice her religion. This makes the case categorically different from ordinary domestic disputes or marital disagreements. The violence here was both psychological and religious, and the impact extended to her family, who were left powerless to protect her from religious coercion. This case also falls under the subcategory of “Forced conversion after marriage” because the harassment continued even after Shailu and Monu formalised their relationship through nikah. The coercion to convert and adopt Islamic practices occurred after the marriage, which aligns with patterns observed in other religiously motivated hate crimes against Hindu women. The perpetrator applied sustained pressure to erode her religious identity through enforced Islamic practices, including wearing a hijab and offering namaz. These acts are recognised within the Tracker as tools of religious coercion that constitute hate crimes, particularly when refusal or resistance is met with threats, intimidation, or violence. Furthermore, the case highlights the deliberate targeting of Hindu women as individuals because of their religion. Monu and his family’s actions were structured to suppress Shailu’s Hindu faith and assert control over her religious identity, showing intent to impose religious conversion through coercion. This was not a mere interpersonal conflict; the motive was clearly tied to her Hindu identity. The extremity of the coercion and its direct link to her religious identity are what situate this case within the Hinduphobia Tracker. In conclusion, Shailu’s death is a direct outcome of systematic religious harassment and coercion targeting her Hindu faith. She faced continuous pressure to abandon her religious identity, was denied basic religious freedoms, and was coerced into following practices alien to her beliefs. Her suicide, therefore, represents the ultimate manifestation of religiously motivated hate against a Hindu individual. By documenting this case, the Tracker underscores the patterns of post-marital and live-in coercion, forced adoption of religious practices, and targeted psychological pressure that constitute hate crimes against Hindus. It serves as a critical example of how the manipulation of religious identity, when combined with control, intimidation, and coercion, can lead to fatal outcomes.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
