Hindu woman deceived into Hindu marriage by Muslim man, beaten and abandoned while heavily pregnant for refusing Islamic conversion
Raxaul, Bihar, India 
15 May, 2022
Case Summary
A Hindu woman from Biratnagar, Nepal, was deceived into a relationship and marriage by a Muslim man who concealed his religious identity and posed as a Hindu man named Raj. The Hindu woman later discovered that the man was Hasre Alam, a married Muslim man from Bihar. After years of deception, she was pressured to abandon Hinduism, convert to Islam and follow Islamic religious practices. When she refused, she was assaulted and thrown out of the house while heavily pregnant. The incident emerged from Raxaul in Bihar, near the Indo, Nepal border region. The Hindu woman, identified as Sangeeta Paswan, had travelled to Raxaul in 2022 to perform at a Hanuman worship programme. During this visit, she met Hasre Alam, a Muslim man from Kachurwari village under Adapur block in Bihar. He introduced himself to her as “Raj” and concealed both his real name and his Muslim identity. After meeting the Hindu woman, Hasre Alam began maintaining regular contact with her. He obtained her phone number on the pretext of arranging cultural programmes and frequently called her. During this period, he projected himself as a Hindu devotee in order to gain her trust. Whenever he visited the Hindu woman, he wore a tilak on his forehead and openly presented himself as a devotee of Lord Ram. He also travelled with her to temples in Janakpur, Nepal, where he participated in Hindu rituals and worship practices. Through these actions, he continuously reinforced the false image that he was a Hindu man named Raj. Over time, the Hindu woman entered into a relationship with him believing he was Hindu. In June 2022, the two underwent a marriage ceremony according to Hindu rituals at a Shiva temple in Nepal. Following the marriage, they began living together in Birgunj, Nepal. Throughout this period, Hasre Alam continued concealing his Muslim identity from the Hindu woman and maintained the false Hindu identity under the name Raj. The Hindu woman remained unaware that he was already married and that the woman he later introduced as his sister was in fact his first wife. In 2023, the Hindu woman gave birth to a daughter. Following the birth of the child, she began noticing inconsistencies in Hasre Alam’s behaviour and statements. During one conversation after the birth, he reacted with visible panic and made remarks that caused the Hindu woman and her family to question the Hindu identity he had consistently presented. When she later asked him about his family background, he introduced her to a woman whom he described as his sister. The Hindu woman subsequently discovered that the woman was actually his first wife and that he had concealed both his marriage and his religious identity from her since the beginning of the relationship. In June 2024, Hasre Alam took the Hindu woman to Adapur and arranged for a SIM card to be issued in her name. During this process, the Hindu woman discovered that an Aadhaar card had been created using her photograph but under the Muslim name “Sania Khatoon” instead of her real name, Sangeeta Paswan. The shopkeeper informed her that the Aadhaar card identified her as Sania Khatoon. The Hindu woman, who could not read, recognised the photograph as her own and realised that her identity had been altered without her consent. When she confronted Hasre Alam about why a Muslim identity had been created in her name, he told her that the change was necessary because she was a Nepali citizen and that the Aadhaar card could not otherwise be prepared. After the Hindu woman uncovered the forged identity documents, Hasre Alam disclosed that he was Muslim and admitted that his real name was not Raj. He then began pressuring the Hindu woman to abandon Hinduism, convert to Islam and observe Islamic religious practices, including fasting and prayer. The Hindu woman refused to renounce Hinduism or adopt Islam. Despite years of living with him under the belief that he was Hindu, she refused to change her religion after learning his real identity. On 8th May 2026, the Hindu woman returned home and saw Hasre Alam offering Islamic prayers inside the house. When she questioned him about his conduct and reminded him that he had always portrayed himself as a Hindu devotee who chanted the name of Lord Ram, he admitted that he was Muslim and stated that he had married her by posing as a Hindu man. Two days later, he told the Hindu woman that she would only be allowed to continue living with him if she converted to Islam. The Hindu woman refused the demand to convert. Following her refusal, Hasre Alam physically assaulted her and drove her out of the house despite the fact that she was eight months pregnant at the time. She was forced to spend three nights at Raxaul railway station after being abandoned. During this period, she had no stable shelter or support despite her pregnancy and the presence of her young daughter. On 14th May 2026, the Hindu woman came into contact with Ranjit Singh, president of the organisation Swachh Raxaul, who brought her to a shelter home for protection and assistance. She informed him about the false Hindu identity used by Hasre Alam, the concealment of his Muslim identity and first marriage, the forged Aadhaar card created in the Muslim name Sania Khatoon, the pressure to convert to Islam and the assault and expulsion she faced after refusing conversion. The matter was later brought before Harpur police station in the Adapur block area of Bihar. A written complaint was submitted regarding the deception, forged identity documents, religious concealment, coercion to convert and assault faced by the Hindu woman. Police officials stated that the Muslim perpetrator, Hasre Alam, had absconded and efforts were underway to trace him. Discussions between both parties were also initiated at the police station level while the matter remained under inquiry.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Man pretends to be Hindu. Under this, the tertiary categories selected are - Name changed, Wears symbols of Hinduism, and Marries as per Hindu rituals. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. The other sub-category selected for this case is - Brainwashed and/ or groomed. Under this, the tertiary category selected is - Victim says she was brainwashed/groomed. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. Another sub-category selected for this case is - Forced conversion after marriage. 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 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, 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. Another sub-category selected for this case 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. The other relevant subcategory here is- Leaves Hindu partner upon refusal to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with 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. However, when the Hindu woman refuses to convert, the non-Hindu man ends the relationship or divorces the woman, as the case might be. 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 pressuring the Hindu woman to change her religious identity and upon her refusal, ends the relationship. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force, or threat after she refuses to convert to Islam, are not considered a part of the hate tracker. The case carries clear religious markers because the Muslim perpetrator deliberately concealed his identity and posed as a Hindu man in order to gain the trust of the Hindu woman. He introduced himself as “Raj”, wore a tilak, projected himself as a devotee of Lord Ram, accompanied the woman to Hindu temples, and even participated in Hindu rituals and a Hindu marriage ceremony. These acts were carefully designed to create the impression that he belonged to the same religious and cultural background as the victim. This deception was deeply tied to religion because the perpetrator understood that shared faith carries significant importance in matters of trust, relationships, and marriage within many Hindu families. The entire relationship was built upon a fabricated Hindu identity because he was aware that the Hindu woman may never have entered into the relationship had she known his real identity, religion, and marital status from the beginning. By concealing these facts and presenting himself as a practising Hindu, he exploited the woman’s religious trust and emotional comfort within her own faith traditions. Hindu temples, rituals, and symbols such as the tilak hold deep spiritual significance for Hindu devotees, and the perpetrator consciously used these sacred markers to emotionally integrate himself into the victim’s life. This reflected a deliberate disregard for her faith and her right to make an informed decision based on the truth. The path adopted by the perpetrator further demonstrates that the objective was not a genuine relationship based on honesty and mutual consent, but a gradual process of religious deception followed by coercive conversion. The relationship began with concealment of identity, continued through prolonged religious impersonation and emotional dependency, and eventually escalated into pressure to abandon Hinduism and adopt Islamic practices. After revealing his real identity, the perpetrator allegedly forced the Hindu woman to perform namaz, observe Islamic customs, and convert to Islam in order to continue the relationship. This progression from deception to religious coercion establishes a clear pattern of targeting centred around conversion rather than genuine companionship. Another important religious marker was the creation of forged identity documents in the Muslim name “Sania Khatoon”. Names carry deep religious, cultural, and familial significance, especially within Hindu communities. Changing the woman’s Hindu name and identity without informed consent reflected an attempt to erase her original religious identity and reconstruct her socially and legally as a Muslim woman. This was not merely administrative fraud but an act closely tied to religious assimilation and identity erasure. The violence escalated when the Hindu woman refused to convert. She was assaulted, expelled from the house while pregnant, and abandoned after resisting pressure to renounce Hinduism. The abuse intensified specifically when she asserted her Hindu identity and refused religious conversion, making the religious motive behind the targeting evident. This incident is not an isolated case but part of a broader pattern where Hindu women are deliberately targeted through deception and emotional blackmail for religious conversion and sexual exploitation. This stems 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 predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents. Taken together, the false Hindu identity, misuse of Hindu symbols and rituals, concealment of religion and marital status, pressure to convert, forged Muslim identity documents, and violence following refusal to abandon Hinduism demonstrate a sustained pattern of religiously motivated targeting directed at the victim because she was Hindu. The case, therefore, carried clear markers of religious coercion, identity erasure, and hostility towards the Hindu faith and beliefs. Disclaimer: The exact date of when the Hindu woman and the Muslim perpetrator first came into contact was not specified in the available sources. However, the year of initial contact was indicated around 2022. The tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported or published. In this case, 16th May 2022 has been used as the indicative incident date, derived by aligning the known year with the article publication date of 16th May 2026. This date has been recorded for documentation purposes only.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
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 
