Hindu man driven to suicide after being pressured to convert and abandon Hinduism for marriage by his non-Hindu girlfriend in Sangli, Maharashtra

Case ID : 30a92ec | Location : Sangli, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 24 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a92ec

Sangli, Maharashtra, India

24 June, 2026

Hindu man driven to suicide after being pressured to convert and abandon Hinduism for marriage by his non-Hindu girlfriend in Sangli, Maharashtra

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Forced to convert before marriage

Suicide upon being forced to convert

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Suicide after pressure to convert

Case Summary

In Sangli, Maharashtra, a 19-year-old Hindu man, Durvank Pramod Shivale from the Khan area, was driven to suicide by his non-Hindu girlfriend, who was pressuring him to convert to her religion for marriage. According to media reports, he met a non-Hindu girl originally from Kolhapur who had been staying near his house at her grandmother’s residence, following which the woman lured him into a romantic relationship. The two decided to get married; however, it was stated that the woman pressured the Hindu victim to convert to her religion and abandon Hinduism. This led to repeated arguments and caused severe mental distress and depression for Durvank over the preceding days. Durvank had come to Sangli a few days before the incident after working in Pune. According to details, he had been in continuous emotional distress due to issues related to marriage and conversion. On 25 June 2026, during a phone conversation on the same issue, he died by suicide at his residence by hanging himself. The deceased victim’s family stated that the police were suppressing the case. The relatives of the deceased youth stated that the Sangli city police were attempting to suppress the investigation and demanded strict action against those responsible. They also stated that when Durvank’s mother’s mobile phone was checked, all chats between Durvank and the girl regarding the condition of religious conversion were found, and that these chats were shown to the police. However, they stated that no concrete action or proper investigation had been initiated so far. His relatives demanded that a thorough investigation be conducted into the matter and that strict legal action be taken against those responsible and those who incited Durvank to commit suicide. Notably, the Hinduphobia Tracker team contacted the police in this matter to confirm the religious identity of Durvank's girlfriend and obtain more information about the case. However, the police stated that they had no information at that stage and claimed that the victim’s family had not yet filed any formal complaint in the matter.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, the first primary category selected here is: Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within it, the sub-category selected here is: Forced to convert before marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu woman is in a relationship with a Hindu man when the force/pressure against the Hindu man to convert his religion begins to manifest. The relationship in such cases is mostly consensual and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu man in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu woman starts to force/pressure the victim to convert his religion and give up his Hindu identity. In such cases, the methods used to force/pressure the victim to convert his religion often revolve around forcing/pressurizing the man to involuntarily consume beef, forced circumcision, forcing/pressurizing 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 the Hindu man 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 subcategory selected is: Suicide upon being forced to convert. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the Hindu man faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change his religious identity by the non-Hindu spouse or her family or/and religious leaders. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu spouse known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu spouse starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner or her family to convert, the Hindu man commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu man. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the Hindu spouse committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. The second primary category selected is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory 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. The other subcategory selected is: Suicide after pressure to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, owing to the humiliation or pressure/threat, the victim commits suicide. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The pressure/threat that is employed leads to the Hindu victim taking his own life. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing suicide by the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case is a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime, as a Hindu man was driven to suicide by his non-Hindu girlfriend, who was pressuring him to convert to her religion for marriage after luring him into a relationship. The case details overall showcase the religiously driven intent of the entire incident. In this case, although the non-Hindu woman did not conceal her religious identity or misrepresent it in a direct manner, the nature of the relationship created an underlying expectation that religion would not act as a barrier to their romantic involvement or future marriage. The victim entered the relationship under the belief that mutual acceptance would exist despite religious differences. However, once the emotional bond had been established and the relationship had progressed towards marriage, the demand for conversion was introduced. This shift is significant as it demonstrates that the victim was emotionally invested in the relationship before being confronted with religious conversion demands. This demonstrates that this progression created a sense of emotional entrapment, where the victim was led into a committed relationship and later subjected to pressure to abandon his faith. This dynamic reflects how the relationship itself became structurally coercive in nature, effectively trapping the victim in a situation where his religious identity was later made conditional for continuing the relationship. The sustained pressure on the victim to convert his religion for marriage constitutes, in essence, a direct attack on his religious identity and autonomy. Forcing or repeatedly pressuring an individual to abandon their faith for the sake of acceptance in a relationship reflects an attempt to subordinate their religious beliefs to external demands. Such coercion treats the victim’s Hindu identity as something negotiable and discardable, rather than an inherent and protected aspect of personal dignity. In this case, the repeated insistence on conversion created a hostile emotional environment in which the victim’s religious identity was continuously challenged. This form of pressure goes beyond interpersonal disagreement and enters the domain of identity-based coercion, where the victim is expected to alter his core beliefs to satisfy the demands of the other party, thereby demonstrating religious hostility. Forced conversion in such contexts reflects a deeper ideological disregard for the victim’s religious identity, as it effectively communicates that his existing faith is insufficient or unacceptable for the relationship to continue. This constitutes a violation of religious autonomy, as it undermines the fundamental right of an individual to remain within their chosen faith without coercion or emotional manipulation. The sustained pressure described in this case demonstrates how religious identity was treated as an obstacle to be removed rather than respected. By attempting to compel the victim to abandon Hinduism, the perpetrator’s actions reveal a form of religious intolerance where the victim’s faith is positioned as inferior or incompatible with the desired relationship outcome. This illustrates a clear pattern of religious hostility, where conversion is pursued not through voluntary conviction but through persistent emotional and psychological pressure. The constant disputes and repeated arguments over marriage, coupled with the insistence that the victim convert to her religion as a condition for marriage, demonstrate how marriage was used as a leverage mechanism to pressure compliance. The relationship repeatedly broke down into conflict whenever the victim refused to convert, with marriage being withheld or made conditional upon religious change. This created a coercive emotional framework where the victim was placed under continuous pressure to choose between his religious identity and his relationship. Such a dynamic reflects the use of marital commitment as an instrument of coercion, where emotional attachment is strategically linked to religious conversion demands. This form of pressure significantly intensified the psychological burden on the victim, as it tied his personal future and emotional bond directly to abandonment of his faith. The victim’s suicide highlights the extreme psychological distress and emotional breakdown caused by the sustained pressure he was subjected to. The repeated conversion demands, combined with ongoing disputes over marriage, left him mentally disturbed and emotionally overwhelmed in the days leading up to his death. The fact that the victim ultimately took his own life demonstrates the severity of the psychological impact caused by prolonged coercion and emotional strain. This outcome reflects not only personal tragedy but also the intensity of pressure that arises when an individual is repeatedly confronted with demands to abandon their religious identity. The act of suicide, in this context, underscores the devastating consequences of sustained harassment linked to religious conversion pressure, revealing the depth of distress inflicted upon the victim. The manner in which the police responded to the case reflects clear negligence and failure to act with urgency, including claims that no complaint had even been registered at the initial stage. The victim’s family faced a lack of meaningful assistance, and the case was not pursued with the seriousness or promptness expected in a death by suicide involving sustained conversion pressure. Such inaction demonstrates institutional failure in addressing cases where Hindu victims are subjected to religious coercion and psychological harassment. The refusal to promptly register and actively investigate the matter reflects a pattern of institutional indifference, which in turn raises serious concerns about bias and selective inertia when Hindus are the victims of hate-motivated incidents. This delay and lack of decisive action further intensified the family’s distress and reinforced their demand for immediate accountability and a proper investigation. Given the totality of circumstances, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker as a case involving sustained religious conversion pressure within a romantic relationship, leading to severe psychological distress and the eventual suicide of a Hindu man. The case is documented as one reflecting identity-based coercion, where sustained pressure to abandon Hinduism for marriage forms the central axis of the harm described.