Hindu woman lured into relationship by Muslim man pretending to be Hindu in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : 30a97f8 | Location : Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 19 May, 2026

Case ID : 30a97f8

Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India

19 May, 2026

Hindu woman lured into relationship by Muslim man pretending to be Hindu in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Case Summary

In Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was deceived and befriended by a Muslim man who concealed his religious identity. The accused introduced himself using a Hindu name to lure her into a relationship. The incident came to light at a hookah bar in the Abulane area of Sadar Bazar on 20 May 2026, after members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal received information about the matter and reached the location. They confronted the accused, stating that he had deliberately concealed his Muslim identity to develop a relationship with the Hindu woman. As the confrontation unfolded, a large crowd gathered at the spot, prompting police intervention. The accused initially introduced himself to the Hindu woman as "Abhishek" but was later identified as Shoaib. Members of Hindu organisations stated that he had intentionally concealed his religious identity and adopted a Hindu name to gain the woman's trust. A video of the incident that circulated on social media showed the accused admitting that he had concealed his identity to lure the woman into a relationship. Police reached the scene and took both the accused and the Hindu woman to Sadar Bazar Police Station for questioning. During the investigation, police examined the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the viral video in which the accused admitted that he had used a false Hindu identity while interacting with the woman. Officers also recorded statements from those concerned and stated that further legal action would be taken based on the evidence gathered during the investigation. Following the incident, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal staged a protest outside Sadar Bazar Police Station, demanding strict legal action against the accused. In view of the protests, security was strengthened around the police station while the investigation remained ongoing. After receiving official information about the incident, the victim's father immediately went to the police station and filed a written complaint against the accused, Shoaib. Based on this complaint, the local police have registered a case against the accused under relevant legal sections and are taking further legal action in the matter. Station House Officer of Sadar Bazaar Police Station, Akhilesh Kumar Mishra, stated that the family of the victim had filed a written complaint at the police station regarding the entire incident that took place at a hookah bar in Abulen. Based on the family's complaint, a case had been registered against the accused youth. Strict legal and statutory action was being taken in the matter as per the rules.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case falls under the primary category: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The sub-category selected is: Man pretends to be a Hindu. The tertiary category selected is: Name changed When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. This case is an example of a hate crime against Hindus since the deception was directed specifically at a Hindu woman because of her religious identity. The accused, whose real name was Shoaib, introduced himself as "Abhishek" to conceal his Muslim identity while befriending the Hindu woman. The deception was not merely the use of a false name but also involved assuming a Hindu identity to gain the confidence of a Hindu woman who may not have entered into the relationship had she known his true identity. The victim's Hindu identity was therefore central to the conduct rather than incidental. First, the perpetrator's act of deception by posing as a Hindu demonstrated clear bias and deliberate intent towards the victim's religious identity. By concealing his Muslim identity and introducing himself as "Abhishek", Shoaib gained the Hindu woman's trust under false pretences. His deliberate decision to assume a Hindu identity in order to establish a relationship showed that religion was central to the method employed to target the victim. This constituted a direct violation of the woman's right to make an informed decision regarding whom she chose to be in a relationship with and amounted to a conscious exploitation of her religious identity. The accused's deliberate concealment of his religion therefore underscored the religious motivation behind the offence. In such instances, the concealment of religious identity is not merely a deceptive tactic for personal reasons but a calculated strategy rooted in religious profiling and targeting. By adopting a Hindu name, the accused presented himself as a member of the victim's own religious community and thereby removed the religious barrier that would ordinarily have existed. If his religious identity had been irrelevant to his intentions, there would have been no reason to conceal his Muslim identity and assume a Hindu identity. These deliberate acts demonstrate that the victim was specifically targeted because she was Hindu. This deception reflects a broader pattern in which Hindu women are specifically targeted through the use of false Hindu identities by Muslim men. Such victimisation based on religious identity demonstrates a clear disregard for the victim's faith and exploits the trust associated with a shared religious identity. The deliberate misuse of a Hindu identity to gain the confidence of a Hindu woman makes religion central to the offence and establishes it as a religiously motivated hate crime. 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.