Ajmer: Police arrests Rais for raping Hindu woman, forcing her to convert religion

Case ID : 2e1d59b | Location : Ajmer, Rajasthan, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 15 October, 2024

Case ID : 2e1d59b

Ajmer, Rajasthan, India

15 October, 2024

Ajmer: Police arrests Rais for raping Hindu woman, forcing her to convert religion

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Forced conversion before marriage

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

Ajmer Police arrested a medical operator, Rais, for raping a woman and attempting to convert her religion. CO Rudraprakash Sharma provided details on October 16, confirming that the victim had filed a complaint of rape, prompting the arrest. The victim, who worked in a lab, had met Rais, a medical director from Janana Road Aravali Homes, at a diagnostic lab. Rais manipulated her with promises of marriage and raped her over the course of a year. When she eventually confronted him about marriage, Rais postponed it repeatedly. Upon discovering that he was already married, she pressed him, only to be met with violence. Additionally, she reported Rais attempting to forcibly convert her and deceiving her of gold jewellery and other valuables. Later, he threatened her life. Following her complaint, Rais was taken into custody and remanded.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added as a religiously motivated crime under the prime category- Hate crimes against women in relationships and sexual crimes, of the tracker. Under this two sub-categories have been selected. The first 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. The second sub-category 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. This case exemplifies a religiously motivated hate crime, as the accused Rais exploited the victim under the pretense of marriage while subjecting her to forced conversion attempts. By misleading her with false promises and exerting control over her through manipulation, Rais sought to establish a relationship that was conditional upon her religious conversion. When the victim confronted him about his duplicity and insisted on marriage, Rais responded not only with postponement and evasion but also with violence. His attempts to forcibly convert her highlight an intent to manipulate her religious identity, making it a precondition for continuing their relationship. Furthermore, the threats to her life and the coercion involved in exploiting her trust and valuables underscore a severe disrespect for her autonomy and beliefs. This case, therefore, reflects an attack on the victim’s religious identity and freedom, which is why it has been added to the tracker.