Hindu woman pressured to convert after being deceived and exploited by Muslim man in Lucknow, blackmailed with obscene videos for resisting
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India 
25 June, 2023
Case Summary
A Hindu woman in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, was befriended through social media by a Muslim man who concealed important facts about his identity and personal circumstances to trap the woman. What began as an online friendship gradually developed into a relationship that exposed the Hindu woman to deception, coercion, and pressure to abandon her faith. The relationship later descended into abuse when she discovered information that had been deliberately hidden from her. The Hindu woman came into contact with Sahil Hussain, a 21-year-old Muslim man from the Maqboolganj area of Lucknow, through Instagram around three years before the complaint was filed. He introduced himself as 'Rowdy' to the Hindu woman. Over time, the two became close and developed a relationship. During the course of this relationship, Sahil Hussain concealed the fact that he was already married and continued to maintain a relationship with the Hindu woman without disclosing his marital status. As the relationship progressed, Sahil Hussain established physical relations with the Hindu woman and sexually exploited her. During this period, he also created objectionable photographs and videos of her. The Hindu woman later stated that he used these materials to blackmail her and exert control over her and her decisions. Alongside this, he repeatedly pressured her to convert to Islam and sought to persuade her to abandon her Hindu faith. The Hindu woman further stated that Sahil Hussain compelled her to marry him after exerting pressure upon her and continued to insist that she convert to Islam. The relationship was therefore marked not only by the concealment of his marital status but also by persistent attempts to change the woman's religious identity. The pressure to convert formed a central element of his conduct towards her. After some time, the Hindu woman discovered that Sahil Hussain was already married and had concealed this fact from her throughout their relationship. When she confronted him and objected to the deception and conversion attempts, he subjected her to physical assault and verbal abuse. The violence followed her protest against the concealed marriage and the continuing pressure to convert to Islam. Unable to endure the abuse and coercion, the Hindu woman approached Aminabad Police Station and submitted a formal complaint on 26th June 2026. In her complaint, she stated that Sahil Hussain had established a relationship with her while concealing his marital status, pressured her to convert to Islam, subjected her to physical relations through deception, and assaulted and abused her when she objected. Upon receiving the complaint, Aminabad police registered Crime No. 47/2026 against Sahil Hussain under Sections 69, 115(2), and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021. Police took him into custody for questioning, during which he admitted his actions and expressed remorse. He was subsequently arrested and produced before the court in accordance with legal procedure. The investigation remained ongoing, and further action was stated to depend on the evidence gathered during the investigation.
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 - Brainwashed and/or groomed, with the tertiary categories being - Rape and sexual assault/harassment, 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. The other subcategory selected for this case 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. Another subcategory selected 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 subcategory selected 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 of sustained deception employed by the Muslim perpetrator demonstrated a calculated process of grooming and manipulation directed at a Hindu woman. By concealing the fact that he was already married, he deprived the victim of the ability to make an informed decision about entering and continuing the relationship. The concealment of such a significant fact was not incidental but formed the foundation upon which emotional dependency and trust were built. The victim was induced into an intimate relationship and subjected to sexual exploitation while believing she was in a genuine relationship that could culminate in marriage. The prolonged nature of the deception indicates a deliberate effort to keep the victim emotionally invested and vulnerable, thereby making it easier to influence and control her. The exploitation of a Hindu woman through deception and false promises reflects a premeditated pattern of targeting in which manipulation was used as a tool to place the victim in a position where she could later be pressured to abandon her faith and submit to the perpetrator's demands. The victim herself stated before the police that she had been manipulated and could no longer bear the trauma and coercion she had endured. Her statement underscores the severe psychological impact of the sustained deception and pressure she faced. The fact that she described herself as having been mentally influenced and emotionally overwhelmed highlights the extent to which coercive tactics had been employed to break down her resistance and impair her ability to exercise free and independent choice. The pressure to convert to Islam before marriage constituted a direct challenge to the victim's religious identity and freedom of conscience. The perpetrator did not accept the continuation of the relationship while allowing the victim to remain a Hindu; instead, he insisted that she embrace Islam and marry him on those terms. This demand is significant because it demonstrates that her Hindu identity was viewed as an obstacle that had to be altered before the relationship could proceed further. The insistence on conversion transformed the relationship from one based on personal affection into one conditioned upon religious conformity. Such conduct reflects an intent not merely to establish a marital relationship but to secure the abandonment of the victim's faith and replace it with another religious identity, thereby directly targeting her because she was Hindu. When the victim refused to comply with the demand for conversion, the perpetrator escalated his conduct by resorting to blackmail. He threatened to release obscene photographs and videos taken during the course of the relationship in order to force her into submission. The use of intimate material as a weapon of coercion demonstrates an attempt to exploit the victim's vulnerabilities, fear of social humiliation, and emotional distress to compel a religious outcome that she had already rejected. This was not an isolated act of intimidation but part of a broader pattern of coercive control aimed at breaking her resistance and forcing her to surrender her religious identity. By weaponising material obtained during the period of exploitation, the perpetrator sought to deprive the victim of any meaningful ability to refuse conversion. The abuse intensified further when the victim continued to resist conversion to Islam. She was subjected to physical violence and verbal abuse because she refused to renounce her faith and accept the demands imposed upon her. The timing and context of the violence are significant because the hostility escalated specifically when she asserted her desire to remain Hindu. The assault and intimidation therefore cannot be viewed merely as acts arising out of a personal dispute; they formed part of a coercive process directed at compelling religious submission. The violence and abuse functioned as punitive measures against the victim for refusing to abandon her Hindu identity, demonstrating clear hostility towards her decision to retain her faith and underscoring the religious dimension of the targeting she endured. 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. 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 2023. The tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported or published. In this case, 26th June 2023 has been used as the indicative incident date, derived by aligning the known year with the article publication date of 26th June 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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
