Hindu man consumes poison over mental harassment and coercion for conversion by Muslim wife and her family, in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Case ID : 30a9693 | Location : Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 6 July, 2026

Case ID : 30a9693

Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India

6 July, 2026

Hindu man consumes poison over mental harassment and coercion for conversion by Muslim wife and her family, in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Forced to convert after marriage

Suicide upon being forced to convert

Case Summary

In Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu man, Aakash Prajapati, committed suicide by consuming poison over mental harassment and pressure exerted on him by his wife and his family to convert to Islam. Aakash had married a Muslim woman, Asma Khan, in an interfaith marriage. Following the marriage, disputes arose between the couple over religion and pressure to convert. The prolonged harassment eventually led to the victim committing suicide on 7 July 2026. Akash Prajapati consumed poison outside the Civil Lines Police Station in Vidisha. Before dying, the victim recorded a video message, in which he clearly stated that he was ending his life because he could no longer endure the pressure and harassment. He asserted that his wife and her family members had been forcing him to convert to Islam and had made his life unbearable. He explicitly accused his wife, Asma Khan, her son, Aamir Khan, brothers Shahid, Shahrukh, Shadiq, father Liyaqat Khan and mother Shaira Khan of abetting him to commit suicide, In the audio that was shared by the X handle Angry Saffron on the microblogging platform, Akash said that Asma was mentally torturing him. He stated that she last came to his house at 6 am, banged on the door and threatened to file rape cases against everyone. He stated that she demanded ₹10 lakh, wanted the house transferred in her name and had taken away his Activa scooter. He also confirmed that the police were refusing to register his complaint despite his repeated visits to the Civil Lines police station. Mentioning he had already been sent to jail multiple times under preventive action, he stated both his wife and the police were mentally harassing him. "Mujhe Musalman banane ke liye keh rahe hain. 10 lakh mang rahe hain. Nahi doge toh 376 lagwayenge. Mere paas marne ke alawa koi rasta nahi," (They are forcing me to become a Muslim. They are demanding Rs 10 lakh. They say that if I don't pay, they will have Section 376 invoked against me. I have no option left except to die), Akash said in his recorded video, which served as crucial evidence and proof of coercion and mental pressure for conversion. After consuming poison, Aakash was taken to hospital, where he remained under treatment. Despite medical efforts, he succumbed on 9 July 2026. Following his death, the Hindu man's family also confirmed that after the marriage, the Muslim wife and her family repeatedly pressured him to convert to Islam. They stated that he was subjected to continuous mental harassment, intimidation and threats because he refused to change his religion. The family further stated that these pressures became increasingly severe over time. Accusing Asma Khan and her family of having abetted his suicide through prolonged religious coercion, intimidation and mental cruelty, they demanded that police register stringent criminal offences against all those involved and investigate whether the pressure to convert constituted offences under Madhya Pradesh's anti-conversion law in addition to offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. At the time of documenting this incident, the Police had initiated an investigation into the matter, including an examination of the published audio recording, statements from family members of the Hindu victim, and other evidence. The investigation remained ongoing, and the charges had not yet been judicially determined.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category for this case is: Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. The subcategory for this case is: Forced to convert after marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu woman marries a Hindu man, and the force/pressure against the Hindu man to convert to Islam begins after marriage. In such cases, the marriage is consensual in most cases, and often, there is no element of the non-Hindu woman hiding her religious identity. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act, where neither party is 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 woman starts to pressure the Hindu man to convert to Islam after marriage. In such cases, there is application of force/pressure by the perpetrator, including denial of the man’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the man is forced/pressured to convert include forcing/pressurizing the man to involuntarily consume beef, pressurizing/forcing to read the Kalma, forced circumcision, forced to go to the mosque, etc. There are several instances where, after marriage, the man 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 Hindu victim stated that pressure to convert began after his marriage to the Muslim woman. According to his final audio message and his family's statements, he was repeatedly asked to embrace Islam instead of being allowed to continue practising his Hindu faith, making religious conversion the central cause of the conflict. The next subcategory 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 categorised as a hate crime. The incident has been added to the database because the deceased victim's religion was central to the crime. Hindu victim himself confirmed in his final audio message that continuous pressure to convert to Islam had driven him to take the extreme step of consuming poison. His family also stated that the persistent pressure to change his religion was the reason behind his suicide. Here, the relationship was consensual, and the Hindu man and Muslim woman were with each other, knowing each other’s identity fully well. However, in the Islamic faith, a marriage is deemed illegitimate if the non-Muslim partner does not convert to Islam. For those who practice the faith, when their daughter marries a Hindu man without the man converting to Islam, the difference in religions followed becomes the main point of disapproval for the family of the Muslim woman. Because of the ingrained element of religious supremacy in Islam, the perpetrator family believes that such interfaith relationships diminish the family’s ‘honour’. In this case, also, the inherent animosity for the Hindu religion prompted the family of the Muslim girl to go to the extent of abetting the Hindu man to commit suicide. Aakash Prajapati case raises serious concerns regarding religious coercion within an interfaith marriage and its devastating consequences. According to the statements made by him before his death and by his family thereafter, he was subjected to sustained pressure to abandon his Hindu faith and convert to Islam following his marriage. The case goes beyond a matrimonial dispute, as the central grievance revolves around repeated attempts to change the victim's religious identity against his wishes. His final audio message, in which he attributed his extreme step to the continued pressure and harassment he experienced, forms a significant part of the case. The incident also draws attention to the vulnerability of individuals who face coercion to renounce their faith within personal relationships and raises broader concerns about protecting the freedom to practise one's religion without fear, pressure, or intimidation.