Hindu woman lured into relationship through fake Hindu identity, blackmailed using private videos, threatened with death by Muslim man
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 
23 July, 2026
Case Summary
In Dehradun, Uttarakhand, a Hindu woman was drawn into a relationship with a Muslim man who introduced himself using the Hindu name “Rahul” and concealed his actual identity. The woman later stated that he blackmailed and sexually exploited her using private photographs and videos and threatened to kill her if she disclosed what had happened. The woman first met Shahbaz when she visited the Hair Launch salon for a haircut, where he worked. He introduced himself as Rahul, following which the two began talking, became friends and eventually entered into a relationship. Shahbaz stated that he had known her for around two to three months. During the subsequent confrontation, he acknowledged that his real name was Shahbaz and identified his father as Inam Khan. He also stated that the salon owner was his friend. During the confrontation by Bajrang Dal members, the woman was found in a washroom, while Shahbaz was present in a girl's room. When asked why he was there, Shahbaz said that he had simply come to the premises and denied having done anything. A Bajrang Dal member questioned him about being in the woman's room at that hour and asked whether he had forced himself on her. The woman stated that Shahbaz had taken photographs and videos of her and had forced her to come to the room. She said that he had been blackmailing her for a long time and had exploited her over several days while keeping her obscene photographs and videos. She asked that the photographs and videos be deleted from his possession and stated that he had threatened to kill her if she disclosed what he had done. The Bajrang Dal member involved in the confrontation described the incident as “Love Jihad.” He stated that Hindu girls visiting salons were being approached by Muslim men who used Hindu names such as Rahul, obtained their phone numbers and subsequently began communicating with them. He said that Maulvis in madarsa taught such practices and that Hindu girls were specifically targeted. He also referred to another woman who had been rescued the previous day and linked the two incidents to the same religious issue. He further stated that men came to Dehradun from Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and other areas and targeted Hindu girls who lived, studied or worked away from their families. According to him, salons provided an opportunity to obtain the phone numbers of Hindu women who visited for haircuts and other services and then establish contact with them. During the confrontation, he repeatedly questioned Shahbaz about why he had not disclosed his real name and had instead introduced himself as Rahul.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is: Crime against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is: Man pretends to be 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. The religious dimension of this case is evident from the fact that the accused deliberately concealed his Muslim identity and posed as a Hindu to establish a relationship with a Hindu woman. Shahbaz introduced himself as "Rahul", a Hindu-associated name, instead of disclosing his actual identity. This was not simply the use of a false name; he adopted a false religious identity to make himself appear more acceptable and trustworthy to the Hindu victim. The deception therefore directly involved her Hindu identity and influenced the circumstances in which the relationship was established. The subsequent sexual assault and blackmail cannot be viewed in isolation from this deception. The accused first gained access to the victim by presenting himself as someone from the same religious background and then used that relationship to sexually assault her and obtain private photographs and videos, which he later used to blackmail and threaten her. The sexual abuse and subsequent intimidation were therefore part of the same chain of conduct that began with the deliberate concealment of his religious identity. The false Hindu identity was not an incidental detail but the means through which the accused gained the victim's trust and access to her. The fact that the accused chose to assume a Hindu identity while approaching a Hindu woman makes the religious element central to the offence. Had his religious identity been irrelevant to his approach, there would have been no need to specifically present himself as a Hindu. Instead, he used the identity he knew would create familiarity and trust, and that deception was followed by sexual violence and blackmail. The combination of religious identity deception, sexual assault, and continued coercion therefore gives the offence a clear religious dimension and warrants its inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the incident occurred. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date as the date the incident was reported in the media, 24th July 2026.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
