Hindu woman pressured to convert to Islam, wear hijab, perform namaz, observe roza and consume meat by Muslim man; son pressured to undergo circumcision
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 
19 January, 2023
Case Summary
In Dehradun, Uttarakhand, a Hindu woman was pressured by a Muslim man to convert to Islam, wear a hijab, perform namaz, observe roza, and consume meat, while pressure was also placed on her to have her son undergo circumcision. According to reports, in January 2023, the woman met Danish at a mobile phone shop in the Premnagar area, where he worked. She visited the shop to buy a mobile phone, and Danish got her mobile number. The two subsequently became friends. In March 2023, Danish took the woman to a hotel near Shikhar Fall. He mixed an intoxicating substance into a cold drink and gave it to her. After she became unconscious, he raped her and made objectionable photographs and video recordings. After the incident, Danish used the photographs and video to threaten her. She began using them as leverage to pressure her into conversion. He also took her to different hotels in Kimadi, Mussoorie, and Vikasnagar, threatening to make the videos viral. During this period, the woman was forced to give him lakhs of rupees. Her gold jewellery was sold, money was taken through online transactions, and an expensive mobile phone was financed in Danish's name, with the woman continuing to pay its instalments. The woman subsequently approached Rajpur Police Station and submitted a complaint against Danish. Rajpur Police registered a Zero First Information Report in the matter. Police Station House Officer P. D. Bhatt stated that the investigation was sent to Mussoorie because the reported incidents included locations in that area.
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 under this is: Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity as a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual, with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim; however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual, and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence, etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The other subcategory is: Torture of family to force woman to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is forced to convert her religion. Several methods are used for such forced conversion. The non-Hindu man is often documented to issue threats and even employ violence. One of the ways used by such perpetrators is threatening and/or torturing the family members of the Hindu woman to pressure her to convert. The perpetrators in such cases issue threats to harm or torture the family of the woman. In some cases, there is also violence directed towards the family to force the Hindu woman to convert. Such crimes aim to blackmail the victim into changing her religion by inducing fear of harm to her family. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The religious dimension of this case was central to the coercion faced by the Hindu woman. Unlike several other cases where the accused conceals his religious identity, Danish did not hide that he was Muslim. However, the nature of the relationship indicates that religion was not initially presented as a barrier to their involvement. The woman entered the relationship in good faith, only to later face pressure to abandon her Hindu faith. The accused’s intentions became clear when he began coercing her to convert to Islam and adopt Islamic practices. The sexual exploitation, followed by threats involving intimate photographs and videos, gave him additional leverage to pressure her into complying with his religious demands. The demands imposed on her were not generic forms of control but specifically required her to abandon Hindu practices and conform to Islamic religious observances. She was pressured to convert, wear a hijab, perform namaz, observe roza and change her dietary practices. Pressure was also placed on her to have her son undergo circumcision, extending the attempt at religious control to her child and seeking to alter the religious identity of the family. The blackmail therefore became an instrument of religious coercion. By threatening to expose the intimate material and cause social humiliation, the accused sought to weaken the victim’s ability to resist his demands. The sexual exploitation and subsequent blackmail cannot be viewed entirely separately from the religious coercion because the same vulnerability was repeatedly used to pressure her into adopting a different faith. The details of the case reveal a deliberate effort to isolate the Hindu woman from her existing religious identity and impose another religious identity upon her. His actions went beyond physical and financial exploitation; they sought to determine what she should believe, wear, eat and practise, while extending that pressure to her son. This sustained focus on replacing Hindu practices with Islamic ones demonstrates that her Hindu identity was a central element of the coercion. Given these elements, the case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime, with the abuse and coercion directed specifically at her Hindu faith and religious identity. Disclaimer: The available sources did not specify the exact date the Hindu woman and Danish first came into contact. However, the month and year of their initial contact were indicated as January 2023. The tracker records incident dates based on when the relevant event occurred, not when it was reported or published. In this case, 20th January 2023 has been used as the indicative incident date, derived by aligning the known month and year of their first meeting with the 20th September 2026 reporting date. This date has been recorded for documentation purposes only.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
