Hindu woman pressured to convert to Christianity by her husband and mother-in-law; subjected to prolonged physical and mental abuse

Case ID : 30a92f5 | Location : Solapur, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 19 February, 2023

Case ID : 30a92f5

Solapur, Maharashtra, India

19 February, 2023

Hindu woman pressured to convert to Christianity by her husband and mother-in-law; subjected to prolonged physical and mental abuse

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Forced conversion after marriage

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

In Solapur, Maharashtra, a Hindu woman named Varsha Anand Mitragotri was pressured to convert to Christianity by her husband and mother-in-law, who also subjected her to prolonged physical and mental abuse. According to the complaint filed by Varsha Anand Mitragotri, a resident of Wangi Road, the harassment took place between 20 February 2023 and 25 June 2026. She stated that her husband, Anand Mitragotri, frequently returned home intoxicated, verbally abused her, physically assaulted her, and repeatedly threatened to divorce her and force her out of the house. She further stated that both her husband and mother-in-law, Mangal Mitragotri, pressured her to convert to Christianity, telling her that she would not be allowed to remain in the house unless she converted. When she refused to convert, she was beaten with sticks and eventually thrown out of the house. The woman also told police that she was threatened with death if she attempted to return to the matrimonial home. Based on her complaint, the Salgar Vasti Police registered a case against Anand Mitragotri and Mangal Mitragotri and summoned both for questioning. Further investigation into the matter was undertaken by Police Constable Kumbhar.

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 here 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. 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 categorised as a hate crime because the abuse and violence inflicted upon the Hindu woman were not confined to ordinary domestic cruelty but were explicitly tied to sustained efforts to coerce her into abandoning her Hindu faith and converting to Christianity. 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. Furthermore, the victim's religious identity was the focal point of the abuse, with her husband and mother-in-law, who repeatedly making her continued acceptance within the matrimonial home conditional upon her conversion. Statements such as "Convert to Christianity, otherwise I will not let you stay in the house" and "If you don't convert to Christianity, we won't let you live in this house" demonstrated that the hostility directed at the victim was intrinsically linked to her refusal to renounce her religion. The coercive nature of the conduct was further reinforced through physical violence and intimidation. The victim was beaten with sticks after refusing to convert, physically assaulted on multiple occasions, thrown out of the house, and threatened with death if she attempted to return. The repeated use of violence and threats served as a means of compelling religious conversion rather than merely reflecting a domestic dispute. Often in such cases, violence 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. The targeting of the victim's Hindu faith, the repeated demands that she embrace Christianity as a precondition for remaining in her matrimonial home, and the use of physical assault, intimidation, expulsion from the household, and death threats to enforce those demands collectively establish a clear nexus between the abuse and the victim's religious identity. 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. Therefore, religious conversions, even of minors, are often seen as a badge of honour, totally disregarding the methods used to achieve it. 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 victim stated that the harassment began on 20 February 2023. Since the Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date of the incident as 20 February 2023.