Hindu man driven to suicide after being pressured to convert to Islam for marriage by his Muslim girlfriend in Sangli, Maharashtra
Sangli, Maharashtra, India 
24 June, 2026
Case Summary
In Sangli, Maharashtra, a 19-year-old Hindu man, Durvank Pramod Shivale from the Khan area, was driven to suicide by his Muslim girlfriend, Samiya Bagwan. She, along with a Muslim man named Sahil Raju Bagwan, pressured him to convert to Islam as a condition for marriage. According to media reports, Durvank met the Muslim girl, originally from Kolhapur, who had been staying near his house at her grandmother's residence. Following this, the two entered into a romantic relationship. They later decided to get married; however, the Muslim girl, along with Sahil Raju Bagwan, pressured the Hindu victim to convert to Islam and abandon Hinduism as a precondition for the marriage. According to the victim's mother, Durvank was also continuously blackmailed and pressured to follow Muslim customs in addition to converting to Islam. This led to repeated arguments and caused severe mental distress and depression for Durvank in the days leading up to suicide. Durvank had returned to Sangli from Pune on 23 June 2026, where he had been working for a private company. He remained in continuous emotional distress due to issues relating to marriage and religious conversion. On 25 June 2026, after receiving a phone call concerning the same issue, he died by suicide by hanging himself in his locked bedroom at his residence. According to the complaint filed by the victim's mother, Bharti Shivale, both the Muslim girl and Sahil Raju Bagwan had been pressuring Durvank to convert to Islam in order to marry her. She further stated that her son had been continuously blackmailed and coerced into embracing Islam and following Muslim customs. Following his death, the family, with the assistance of a neighbour, accessed Durvank's mobile phone and recovered chats on Instagram and other social media platforms relating to the demand for religious conversion. During the investigation, the police, with the assistance of a technical team, also examined the deceased's mobile phone, WhatsApp chat history, and call detail records (CDRs). The recovered digital communications contained conversations in which the accused repeatedly discussed and pressured Durvank to convert to Islam. Based on Bharti Shivale's complaint, the Sangli City Police registered a case against the Muslim girl and Sahil Raju Bagwan for abetment to suicide. Sahil Bagwan was arrested, while the investigation into the case remained ongoing. The police also seized the mobile phones of both the deceased and the accused for forensic examination. At the same time, the cyber police were deployed to extract complete data from the messaging applications to establish the sequence of events leading up to Durvank's death. Police were also working to secure all available digital and physical evidence and were investigating the identity of the person who made the final phone call to Durvank before his death. Additionally, investigators were examining whether the incident involved a wider organised network behind the conversion pressure or was an isolated act. Although Durvank recorded a 12-second video before his death, indicating his intention to end his life, police stated that the video did not explicitly mention the reason for the suicide. However, the investigating officer confirmed that digital communication recovered during the investigation contained conversations relating to religious conversion. The police stated that the investigation was continuing to ascertain all the circumstances surrounding the case.
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 other subcategory selected is: Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is blackmailed to convert his religion. 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 woman starts blackmailing a Hindu man to convert his religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu man is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to his 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 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 Muslim girlfriend and Sahil Raju Bagwan, who pressured him to convert to Islam as a condition for marriage after luring him into a relationship. The victim was not only subjected to sustained pressure to abandon Hinduism but was also continuously blackmailed and pressured to follow Muslim customs. The case details, taken as a whole, clearly showcase the religiously driven intent behind the entire incident. In this case, although the Muslim 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 that he convert to Islam was introduced. This shift is significant, as it demonstrates that the victim was emotionally invested in the relationship before being confronted with demands to abandon his faith. This progression created a sense of emotional entrapment, where the victim was led into a committed relationship and later subjected to sustained pressure and blackmail to convert to Islam, follow Muslim customs, and abandon Hinduism. This dynamic reflects how the relationship itself became structurally coercive in nature, effectively trapping the victim in a situation where his religious identity was made conditional for continuing the relationship and marrying the woman. The sustained pressure exerted by the Muslim girlfriend and Sahil Raju Bagwan on the victim to convert to Islam for marriage constituted, in essence, a direct attack on his religious identity and autonomy. Forcing or repeatedly pressuring an individual to abandon his faith for the sake of acceptance in a relationship reflects an attempt to subordinate his religious beliefs to external demands. Such coercion treated the victim's Hindu identity as something negotiable and discardable rather than an inherent and protected aspect of his personal dignity. In this case, the repeated insistence on conversion, coupled with continuous blackmail and pressure to follow Muslim customs, created a hostile emotional environment in which the victim's religious identity was continuously challenged. This form of pressure went beyond interpersonal disagreement and entered the domain of identity-based coercion, where the victim was expected to alter his core beliefs to satisfy the demands of the perpetrators, thereby demonstrating clear 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 the victim's Hindu identity was treated as an obstacle to be removed rather than respected. By attempting to compel the victim to abandon Hinduism, convert to Islam, and adopt Muslim customs, the perpetrators' actions reveal a form of religious intolerance where the victim's faith was positioned as inferior or incompatible with the desired relationship outcome. This illustrates a clear pattern of religious hostility, where conversion was 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 Islam as a condition for marriage, demonstrate how marriage was used as a 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 in which 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 was strategically linked to demands for religious conversion. This form of pressure significantly intensified the psychological burden on the victim, as it tied his personal future and emotional bond directly to the abandonment of his faith. The victim's suicide highlights the extreme psychological distress and emotional breakdown caused by the sustained pressure to which he was subjected. The repeated demands that he convert to Islam, the continuous blackmail, the pressure to follow Muslim customs, and the 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 a personal tragedy but also the intensity of the pressure that arises when an individual is repeatedly confronted with demands to abandon his 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 subsequent police investigation further reinforced the religious nature of the incident. A case was registered against the Muslim minor girl and Sahil Raju Bagwan, following which Sahil Bagwan was arrested. During the investigation, police recovered digital communications, including chats relating to religious conversion, from the mobile phones of the accused and the deceased. The mobile phones were seized for forensic examination, while cyber police were deployed to retrieve additional digital evidence. The recovery of chats discussing religious conversion and the registration of criminal proceedings against the accused further strengthened the conclusion that sustained pressure to convert to Islam formed the central basis of the victim's ordeal. Given that this case meets the parameters of a religiously driven hate crime, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- 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
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
