Hindu man forced to convert to Islam under duress and threats to his safety in West Bengal

Case ID : 30aa868 | Location : West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 22 September, 2026

Case ID : 30aa868

West Bengal, India

22 September, 2026

Hindu man forced to convert to Islam under duress and threats to his safety in West Bengal

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

A Hindu man, Rajkumar, who had travelled to West Bengal in search of employment, was forced to convert to Islam under duress and threats to his safety. Rajkumar, son of Mahadev, was a resident of Rajapur village under Raxa police station in Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh. He had travelled to West Bengal a few years earlier in search of employment and settled there for work. According to an affidavit he submitted to the District Magistrate, he had come under pressure while living in West Bengal and had concerns for his safety, following which he converted to Islam and changed his name to Rafiq Khan, son of Sajimuddin, resident of Vishanpura under Kaliachak police station in Malda district. His new name was subsequently recorded on his Aadhaar card and other official documents. After adopting Islam, Rajkumar, then known as Rafiq Khan, married a Muslim woman named Afsari Khatoon. The couple subsequently had three children and lived in West Bengal for an extended period. They later returned to Rajkumar's ancestral village in Rajapur, Jhansi, along with their children. After returning to Jhansi, Rajkumar decided to return to his original Hindu identity and religion. He submitted an affidavit to the District Magistrate stating that his original name was Rajkumar, son of Mahadev, and that he was a Hindu. As supporting evidence of his original identity, he referred to his father's ration card and his Class 5 school marksheet, which carried his original name. He also stated that he, his wife and their three children had returned to Hinduism. Afsari Khatoon also submitted a separate affidavit to the District Magistrate. In her affidavit, she stated that she had been aware that she was marrying a man belonging to another religion and that she had voluntarily accepted her husband's religion. The affidavits submitted by both spouses documented the family's transition from Rajkumar's conversion to Islam and subsequent marriage and family life in West Bengal to their return to Hinduism after relocating back to his ancestral village in Jhansi.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This incident has been added to the tracker under the primary category: Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the subcategory selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The hate-crime dimension in this case arises from the religious pressure that preceded the Hindu victim's conversion to Islam. The central concern was not simply that the victim changed his religion, but the fact that he had converted while experiencing pressure and concerns for his safety in West Bengal. This placed his Hindu religious identity at the centre of the circumstances leading to the conversion. Where an individual changes faith in an environment of pressure connected to his religious identity and perceived safety, the conduct can have a distinctly religion-targeted character because the effect is to interfere with the person's ability to retain and practise his original faith freely. The coercive nature of the religious change was further underscored by the fact that it extended to the victim's entire public identity. The conversion pressure he faced did not result merely in a change of personal belief, but in the abandonment of the entire Hindu identity. This was significant because it demonstrated the extent to which the circumstances had affected his religious and social identity, rather than representing a limited or private change of belief. His subsequent need to establish his original identity through pre-conversion records further highlighted that the Hindu identity he had been compelled to relinquish had been deeply embedded in his personal life. The case also reflected the targeting of religious identity through coercive or intimidating circumstances rather than through overt physical violence. Hate crimes do not necessarily require an assault or explicit anti-Hindu slur where the underlying conduct is directed at an individual because of his religious identity. Pressure intended to cause a person to abandon his faith can itself constitute a form of religiously motivated interference, particularly where the person links the change directly to pressure and concerns for his safety. The victim's subsequent return to Hinduism after leaving West Bengal also provided an important indication when assessing the circumstances of the earlier conversion. If the earlier change of faith had represented a wholly voluntary and settled religious decision, there would have been no apparent reason for him to later abandon that adopted identity and return to his original Hindu faith after coming back to his ancestral village. His decision to restore his Hindu identity after returning to his village was consistent with the fact that the earlier conversion had taken place under pressure and duress. The sequence therefore supported the fact that the conversion was connected to the circumstances he had experienced in West Bengal rather than reflecting an enduring and freely made change in religious belief. Taken together, the pressure, threats to his safety and subsequent return to Hinduism indicated that the victim's conversion was rooted in coercion rather than a freely exercised change of faith, giving the incident a clear religiously targeted dimension. Therefore, this case has been added to the hate crime database. The hate-crime dimension in this case arises from the religious pressure that preceded the Hindu victim's conversion to Islam. The central concern was not simply that the victim changed his religion, but the fact that he had converted while experiencing pressure and concerns for his safety in West Bengal. This placed his Hindu religious identity at the centre of the circumstances leading to the conversion. Where an individual changes faith in an environment of pressure connected to his religious identity and perceived safety, the conduct can have a distinctly religion-targeted character because the effect is to interfere with the person's ability to retain and practise his original faith freely. The coercive nature of the religious change was further underscored by the fact that it extended to the victim's entire public identity. The conversion pressure he faced did not result merely in a change of personal belief, but in the abandonment of the entire Hindu identity. This was significant because it demonstrated the extent to which the circumstances had affected his religious and social identity, rather than representing a limited or private change of belief. His subsequent need to establish his original identity through pre-conversion records further highlighted that the Hindu identity he had been compelled to relinquish had been deeply embedded in his personal life. The case also reflected the targeting of religious identity through coercive or intimidating circumstances rather than through overt physical violence. Hate crimes do not necessarily require an assault or explicit anti-Hindu slur where the underlying conduct is directed at an individual because of his religious identity. Pressure intended to cause a person to abandon his faith can itself constitute a form of religiously motivated interference, particularly where the person links the change directly to pressure and concerns for his safety. The victim's subsequent return to Hinduism after leaving West Bengal also provided an important indication when assessing the circumstances of the earlier conversion. If the earlier change of faith had represented a wholly voluntary and settled religious decision, there would have been no apparent reason for him to later abandon that adopted identity and return to his original Hindu faith after coming back to his ancestral village. His decision to restore his Hindu identity after returning to his village was consistent with the fact that the earlier conversion had taken place under pressure and duress. The sequence therefore supported the fact that the conversion was connected to the circumstances he had experienced in West Bengal rather than reflecting an enduring and freely made change in religious belief. Taken together, the pressure, threats to his safety and subsequent return to Hinduism indicated that the victim's conversion was rooted in coercion rather than a freely exercised change of faith, giving the incident a clear religiously targeted dimension. Therefore, this case has been added to the hate crime database. 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 victim converted to Islam. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 23 September 2026.