Hindu widow subjected to financial fraud and pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim men in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : 30a7c1e | Location : Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 11 April, 2026

Case ID : 30a7c1e

Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, India

11 April, 2026

Hindu widow subjected to financial fraud and pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim men in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In the Ajabnagar Farenda village of Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu widow, Lakshmi Devi, was subjected to financial fraud, coercion, and threats for religious conversion by two Muslim men, named Mobin and Azam. According to reports, the victim reported to the police that her husband died on March 17, 2025, following which, she, along with her son and daughter, began facing financial difficulties. During this time, she was approached by Mobin (a resident of Patakjotia) and Azam (a resident of Lucknow), who presented themselves as railway rickshaw drivers and promised to provide jobs for her children. Gradually, they lured her and gained her trust, after which they extracted over ₹70,000 from her on multiple occasions under the pretext of administrative expenses such as paperwork and stamp duty, forcing her to mortgage her land to meet their demands. Despite receiving the money, they neither secured any employment nor returned the funds. The situation escalated further when the accused began pressuring her to convert to Islam, offering inducements, claiming they would return her money along with an additional sum of ₹7–8 lakh if she complied. Upon her refusal, they issued death threats and repeatedly contacted her, insisting that she travel to Lucknow. Distressed by the sustained intimidation and coercion, Lakshmi Devi approached the Superintendent of Police and filed a complaint, following which the Kotwali Dehat police initiated an investigation. The Station House Officer, Girjesh Tiwari, stated that while the matter initially appeared to involve a financial dispute, the serious nature of the threats and coercion warranted a detailed inquiry, and appropriate legal action would be taken based on the findings.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is- Conversion/attempts to convert by inducements. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. The other sub-category selected is - Harassment, threats, 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. 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 because a Hindu widow, Lakshmi Devi, was subjected to financial fraud, coercion, and threats for religious conversion by two Muslim men, named Mobin and Azam. Firstly, after extracting money from the victim, the accused attempted to force the Hindu victim to renounce her religion and convert to Islam. 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. Secondly, the accused also tried to offer inducements to the victim, claiming they would return her money along with an additional sum of ₹7–8 lakh if she converted to Islam. Offering incentives or making false promises, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing the victim, who was in desperate need for assistance or hope. This form of coercion strips people of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. Thirdly, when the victim resisted these demands, she was subjected to explicit death threats by the accused, aimed at coercing her into converting to Islam. In such circumstances, threats of violence served a dual purpose: enforcing physical subjugation while also inflicting religious intimidation. The sustained use of fear and coercion was intended to break the victim down emotionally, physically, and spiritually, leaving her vulnerable to forced conversion. This conduct was not incidental or spontaneous, but was systematic and targeted, reflecting a deliberate attempt to compel her to abandon her faith under duress. Such actions stem from inherent hostility 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. Such acts were not merely personal crimes; they were rooted in a desire to dominate and erase the religious identity of the victim. 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 incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the accused pressured the victim to convert her religion. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 12 April 2026.