Hindu woman lured into relationship, forced into drugs; later murdered by her Muslim boyfriend in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka

Case ID : 30a93bf | Location : Chik Ballapur, Karnataka, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 29 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a93bf

Chik Ballapur, Karnataka, India

29 June, 2026

Hindu woman lured into relationship, forced into drugs; later murdered by her Muslim boyfriend in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka

Undecided cases

Attacked/Killed for Hindu identity

Hindu woman ends up dead in a consensual relationship

Case Summary

On 30 June 2026, 26-year-old Sai Surabhi, a Hindu physiotherapist from Jayanagar in Bengaluru, was found murdered inside a locked room at a Homestay near Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka. Her boyfriend, 25-year-old Mohammed Sanjeeth Ali, a Muslim man from Kozhikode, Kerala, was also found unconscious beside her. According to the police, Surabhi's body was discovered after the homestay staff at the Nandi Skandgiri Heritage Homestay alerted authorities when the couple failed to check out and did not respond to repeated knocks or phone calls. When the police forced open the room, they found Surabhi lying dead on the bed with a rope tightly wound around her neck, while Ali was unconscious nearby. Investigators recovered medicines and a diary from the room and suspected that Ali had consumed an overdose of sleeping pills in an apparent attempt to end his own life after killing Surabhi. Based on a complaint lodged by Surabhi's mother, Geeta, the police registered a murder case against Mohammed Sanjeeth Ali. According to Surabhi's family, the case was an instance of "love jihad". They stated that Surabhi and Ali had known each other since their college days at Dayananda Sagar College and had remained in a relationship despite the family's opposition. The family said they had objected to the relationship because Surabhi had previously informed them that Ali subjected her to harassment and torture. They further stated that Ali introduced her to drugs and alcohol, resulting in her being admitted to a rehabilitation centre. After she completed rehabilitation, Ali resumed contact with her. Surabhi had informed her family that she would be attending a satsang programme at the hospital on the Saturday before her death and would remain there overnight. Instead, she met Ali at the homestay without her family's knowledge. Following the incident, police sent the diary recovered from the room for handwriting examination and continued their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Surabhi's murder and Ali's condition.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been placed in the Undecided Database because, although several aspects of the incident raise concerns that merit closer scrutiny, the investigation has not yet established whether the victim's murder was connected to a religiously motivated offence. The victim's family stated that Sai Surabhi was in a relationship with a Muslim man, Mohammed Sanjeeth Ali, despite their opposition. They further stated that Ali had subjected her to prolonged harassment, introduced her to drugs and alcohol, and that she had required rehabilitation as a result. Thereafter, Ali resumed contact with Surabhi after she completed rehabilitation, and she met him at a homestay without their knowledge shortly before she was murdered. The family described the incident as a case of love jihad, and, the police registered a murder case against Ali. These circumstances have given rise to concerns regarding the nature of the relationship and the events leading to Surabhi's death. These circumstances warrant careful examination because similar cases documented by the Hinduphobia Tracker have, in some instances, involved Hindu women being drawn into relationships with Muslim men, followed by sustained abuse, coercion, or other forms of exploitation. The prolonged pattern of harassment described by the family, the victim's introduction to drugs and alcohol, the family's consistent opposition to the relationship, and the circumstances immediately preceding the murder justify closer scrutiny to determine whether any element of religious targeting or coercion formed part of the offence. However, at the time of writing, no evidence has emerged establishing that Surabhi was pressured to convert to Islam, that her Hindu identity was a motivating factor behind the abuse or the murder, or that the offence was driven by religious hostility. While the family's characterisation of the case as love jihad and the surrounding circumstances justify continued scrutiny, they are not, at present, sufficient to conclusively classify the incident as a religiously motivated hate crime. Accordingly, the case has been placed in the Undecided Database and will be reviewed if the ongoing investigation, forensic findings, witness testimony, or judicial proceedings establish evidence of a religious motive or coercive religious element.