Hindu woman deceived into marriage, sexually assaulted and pressured for religious conversion by Muslim man faking Hindu identitiy

Case ID : 30a9c37 | Location : Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 6 August, 2022

Case ID : 30a9c37

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

6 August, 2022

Hindu woman deceived into marriage, sexually assaulted and pressured for religious conversion by Muslim man faking Hindu identitiy

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Forced conversion after marriage

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

In Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman accused a man identified as Sunny Singh alias Salman Khan of concealing his religious identity and marrying her under a false identity before subjecting her to sexual exploitation and pressuring her for religious conversion. The incident came to light after the Hindu woman approached the Sigra police station and filed a complaint against five individuals, including her husband Sunny Singh alias Salman Khan, Shahrukh, Maqbool, Qaiser Khan, and Saina Khan. According to the complaint, the accused, Salman Khan, concealed his religious identity by introducing himself as "Sunny Singh" and deceived her into a relationship. The accused used a forged Aadhaar card bearing a fake Hindu identity to gain her trust and married her four years ago, in 2022. The woman stated that after the marriage, she was subjected to rape, physical and mental harassment, and pressure to convert to Islam. It further stated that Shahrukh and Maqbool also raped the victim, while Kesar Khan and Sayna Khan subjected her to physical and mental harassment, supported the pressure for religious conversion, and issued threats to her. Based on the victim's complaint, the Sigra police registered an FIR against Salman Khan alias Sunny Singh, his brother Shahrukh, father Maqbool, mother Kesar Khan, and sister Sayna Khan. The accused were booked under charges relating to rape, forced religious conversion, forgery of documents, assault, criminal intimidation, and other relevant provisions of law. Police took four of the accused into custody in connection with the case and initiated an investigation. Station House Officer Shivakant Mishra confirmed that the case is under investigation and stated that further legal action would be taken against the accused following the investigation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category for this case is: Crime against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The first subcategory for this case is: Man pretends to be Hindu. The tertiary category for this case 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 mala fide 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. The next subcategory for this case 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 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 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, being 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 last subcategory for this case 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 pressurising 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 reflected a deliberate pattern of targeting a Hindu woman through religious impersonation. The Muslim man did not approach the victim using his real identity. Instead, he adopted a Hindu name and used forged identity documents to present himself as a Hindu, removing the religious barrier that could have influenced the victim's decision to enter the relationship. The deception was not limited to concealing a personal detail; it altered the very basis on which the marriage was built. The victim entered the relationship believing she was marrying someone from her own faith, making the concealment of religious identity the central instrument through which the offence was committed. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. The events that followed showed that the false identity was only the first step. Once the marriage had taken place, the victim was no longer treated as an equal partner but was subjected to sustained pressure to abandon her own religious identity and accept another faith. The sequence of deception before marriage followed by pressure after marriage demonstrated a continuous course of conduct rather than isolated incidents. The objective extended beyond securing the marriage and sought to alter the victim's religious identity after placing her in a position where leaving the relationship became significantly more difficult. 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. The use of repeated sexual violence, physical assault, intimidation and death threats transformed the deception into a mechanism of control. In such cases, sexual violence, assault and threat serve 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 participation of multiple family members showed that the victim was not facing abuse from a single individual but was trapped in an environment where sexual violence, coercion, and intimidation were reinforced collectively, leaving her with little support or safety within the matrimonial home. It is also important to address a question that often arises in such cases: if the woman discovered that the accused had concealed his religious identity, why did she remain in the relationship for several years? Such questions overlook the realities faced by many women in abusive or deceptive marriages. Walking away from a marriage is rarely an immediate or straightforward decision, especially once a family has been established. Emotional attachment, financial dependence, fear of social stigma, pressure from family, uncertainty about rebuilding one's life, and concerns over the future and custody of children often leave women feeling trapped. Many continue to hope that the situation will improve or fear that leaving will expose them and their children to even greater hardship. The fact that a victim remained in the relationship for years, therefore, should not be interpreted as acceptance of the deception or as evidence that the initial fraud became irrelevant. Instead, it reflects the difficult personal, social, and economic realities that often prevent victims from leaving relationships founded on deception. The victim herself described the religious deception, the pressure to convert, the sexual violence, and the threats that followed. These were not separate acts occurring independently of one another. They formed one continuous chain in which the false Hindu identity enabled the marriage, the marriage became the means to exert religious pressure, and violence was used to maintain that pressure. The entire course of conduct directly targeted the victim because she was a Hindu woman, making this a religiously motivated hate crime that falls within the scope of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when a victim's ordeal begins rather than the date on which the incident is reported by the media. In this case, the available reports stated that the victim married the accused four years ago but did not specify the exact date of the marriage or when her ordeal began. Since the incident was reported on 7 August 2026, an indicative incident date of 7 August 2022 has been recorded for documentation purposes only.