Hindu woman pressured to wear burqa, follow Islamic practices and convert to Islam by her Muslim husband

Case ID : 30a74c3 | Location : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 25 September, 2019

Case ID : 30a74c3

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

25 September, 2019

Hindu woman pressured to wear burqa, follow Islamic practices and convert to Islam by her Muslim husband

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Forced conversion after marriage

Forced to wear Hijab

Case Summary

In the Chembur area of Mumbai, Maharashtra, a Hindu woman named Rupali Chandanshive was pressured to wear a burqa, follow Islamic practices and convert to Islam by her Muslim husband named Iqbal Mohammad Sheikh. According to reports, the Hindu woman, Rupali, had married the accused, Iqbal Sheikh, in 2019. Following their marriage, her name was changed to Zara, and they were blessed with a son in 2020. Following the marriage, tensions emerged within the relationship, with Rupali’s family stating that she was subjected to pressure by her husband and his family to adopt Islamic customs, including wearing a burqa and adhering to Islamic religious practices. These issues contributed to frequent disputes between the couple and eventually led to their separation, with Rupali moving out and residing independently with her child. On 26 September 2022, Iqbal visited Rupali at her residence in the Chembur area of Mumbai to discuss their ongoing disputes. The interaction escalated into a confrontation centred primarily around the custody of their child, as Rupali refused to hand over the child and expressed her intention to seek a divorce. This enraged the accused, who turned violent. He attacked Rupali with a knife and slit her throat, stabbing her multiple times. She was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The accused fled the scene but was subsequently apprehended by the police within hours of the incident. Police investigation indicated that the immediate trigger for the murder was the dispute over the custody of the child and the ongoing conflict regarding divorce. At the same time, statements recorded from the victim’s family revealed a broader pattern of coercion and domestic discord linked to religious conversion imposed on her after the marriage and a compulsion to wear a burqa, which had been a persistent source of conflict between the couple. A case was registered against the accused under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and further investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing, including the role of prior domestic tensions and religious pressure, was carried out by the authorities.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Forced conversion after marriage. The tertiary category here is - Forced to wear hijab. 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. In both situations, there is the application of force by the perpetrator, including the denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, being forced to read the Kalma, being forced to wear a hijab, being forced to undergo Halala, etc. There are several instances where, after marriage, the woman voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing; however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. This case has been added to the tracker as a religiously motivated hate crime because a Hindu woman within an interfaith marriage was pressured to wear a burqa, follow Islamic practices and convert to Islam by her Muslim husband, named Iqbal Mohammad Sheikh. Firstly, although the Muslim accused did not conceal his religious identity, the circumstances of the relationship indicate that the Hindu woman was led to believe that her faith would not become an obstacle after marriage. Putting her faith in the accused, she married him. However, the situation changed after her marriage, when the accused began pressuring her to wear a burqa, follow Islamic practices and convert to Islam. While the victim was an adult, the progression of events reflects a pattern where the expectation of conversion was introduced only after the marital bond had been secured. The targeting of a Hindu woman and the subsequent insistence that she abandon her faith indicate that the pressure for conversion was not incidental but central to the accused’s conduct, demonstrating a clear religious motive. Secondly, pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her religious faith and embrace another was a direct attack on her religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Thirdly, after marriage, the victim was pressured to wear a burqa and follow Islamic practices. Making her wear a burqa and follow Islamic practices was a deliberate and malicious attempt at forced conversion. These were symbolic impositions of Islamic religious identity and lifestyle on her, aimed at slowly eroding the woman's Hindu identity and cultural beliefs. Even the victim's name was changed from Rupali to Zara, which was another attempt at eroding her Hindu identity and converting her to Islam. The pressure to adopt Islamic customs was not an isolated occurrence but formed part of repeated disputes between the couple, ultimately contributing to their separation. Rupali’s decision to live separately for several months before her murder indicates resistance to both the domestic and religious pressures placed upon her. The fatal incident itself occurred in the context of an ongoing dispute, primarily centred around the custody of their child and Rupali’s demand for divorce. While the immediate trigger of the violence was linked to this custody dispute, the broader history of the relationship reveals that religious coercion and identity-based pressure had already created a prolonged environment of hostility and conflict. The presence of these religious tensions is significant, as it establishes that the victim’s Hindu identity was not incidental but had been a consistent point of contention within the marriage. The escalation to lethal violence cannot be viewed in isolation from this background of sustained pressure and attempts to enforce religious conformity. Taken together, the facts of the case demonstrate that Rupali was subjected to sustained pressure affecting her religious identity, alongside domestic conflict that ultimately escalated into fatal violence. This kind of behaviour stems from deeper religious animosity towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of the incident based on when the crime occurred. The media reports published this case on 27 September 2022. However, the media reports do not specify the exact date of the beginning of the victim’s ordeal. The victim got married to the accused in 2019, and on 26 September 2022, the accused murdered her. Considering these two pieces of information, we are using an indicative date of 26 September 2019 as the date of the incident. This date is used for documentation purposes only and represents the estimated beginning of her ordeal.