Case Summary

In Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was subjected to harassment, blackmail and religious coercion by a Muslim man named Ballu, who pressured her to marry him and convert to Islam. The incident came to light after the victim's brother, Sanjay Kumar Saket, a resident of a village in the Garhwa police station area of Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh, filed a complaint at Haliya police station in Mirzapur on 6 May 2026. He stated that a Muslim man named Ballu had been in contact with his sister for the past four years and had secretly recorded an obscene video of her during that period. Subsequently, the accused, Ballu, began pressuring the Hindu woman to marry him and convert to Islam. The accused also threatened to kill her if she refused to accept his demands. The victim informed the accused that she would not marry him as she was already married and belonged to a different faith. Following her refusal, the accused began verbally abusing her and later uploaded the obscene video online on 30 April 2026. After the video went viral, the victim was sent back from her matrimonial home, which further aggravated the trauma faced by her and her family. The victim’s brother stated that the circulation of the video caused immense humiliation and mental distress within the family. Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case under relevant sections against the accused for pressuring the woman to convert to Islam through coercion and intimidation, as well as for circulating obscene material online. Station House Officer Rajiv Kumar Srivastava confirmed that legal action had been initiated and efforts to apprehend the accused were underway.

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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 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. 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, 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. 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 the situations, 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 other sub-category selected here is - Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The other sub-category selected here 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 has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman was subjected to harassment, blackmail and religious coercion by a Muslim man named Ballu, who pressured her to marry him and convert to Islam. Firstly, in Islam, marriage to a non-Muslim partner is prohibited, which is why she was pressured to convert to Islam. This shows that the Muslim perpetrator specifically targeted the Hindu victim and pressured her to 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, in an effort to further pressure her to convert, the accused blackmailed her with her obscene videos and uploaded them on social media. These exploitations were not random acts of crime; rather, they functioned as religiously motivated tools aimed at humiliating, and dominating a Hindu woman because of her faith. The target was not the victim as an individual, but her Hindu identity. The specific focus on her Hindu identity in the commission of these acts highlights the religious hatred underlying the crime, making it a religiously motivated offence Often in such cases, sexual crimes or blackmail serves a dual purpose: physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The intention was to break the victim down, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that she could be converted. This was not random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Thirdly, when the Hindu woman stood firm and refused to convert, the accused escalated to outright death threats and intimidation, revealing his willingness to go to any extreme to eradicate her Hindu identity. He issued chilling death threats against her, blackmailing her with obscene videos and demanding she convert to Islam, coupling physical coercion with emotional blackmail to shatter her resolve. This escalation was profoundly significant: the threats were not random but inextricably linked to her rejection of Islam, proving her steadfast Hindu identity was the precise trigger for his rage. By resorting to such barbaric tactics, threatening her life, he exposed a fanatical determination to strip away every vestige of her Hindu faith, no matter the cost, transforming personal betrayal into a vicious assault on her religious core and underscoring the crime's deep roots in anti-Hindu hatred. 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 the date of the incident based on when the crime occurred. The media reports published this case on 6 May 2026. However, the media reports do not specify the exact date of the beginning of the victim’s ordeal. The victim came in contact with the accused about 4 years ago in 2022, and on 30 April 2026, the accused leaked obscene videos of the victim on social media. Considering these two pieces of information, we are using an indicative date of 30 April 2022 as the date of the incident. This date is used for documentation purposes only and represents the estimated beginning of her ordeal.