Hindu woman lured into relationship by Muslim man under false promise of converting to Hinduism; sexually exploited and later coerced to convert to Islam
Thane, Maharashtra, India 
9 September, 2024
Case Summary
In Bhayandar, Maharashtra, a Hindu woman was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man, Taufiq Rashid Khan, who promised to marry her and later pressured her to convert to Islam. He initially assured her that he would convert to Hinduism, follow her religious customs and rituals, and participate in her worship practices. The woman first met Khan when she visited his cake shop to buy a cake. When the shop’s Quick Response (QR) code scanner failed to process her payment, the muslim man asked her to transfer the money using his personal mobile number. A few days later, he started texting her. He repeatedly tried to contact her, expressing interest and seeking to start a relationship. He later expressed a desire to marry her and promised to support her career to gain her trust. From September 2024 onwards, Khan repeatedly established physical relations with the woman against her wishes at her residence under the pretext of marriage. He later took money from her, citing the financial needs of his cake-shop business. The report stated that he took ₹9 lakh in cash and gold jewellery weighing about 23 grams, valued at ₹11.10 lakh in total. Khan repeatedly postponed the marriage, citing the time required to update documents, including his Aadhaar card, while continuing to obtain money from the woman. He also used objectionable videos of her to blackmail her, demanding further payments and threatening her when she refused to comply. The woman submitted financial transaction records to the police as evidence supporting her complaint. The woman eventually approached Navghar Police Station in Bhayandar East and lodged a complaint against Khan. The police registered a criminal case under provisions relating to rape, cheating and criminal intimidation. Assistant Police Inspector Roshan Deore took charge of the case's further investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is: Forced conversion before marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. 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, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. 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 the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. In this case, the Hindu woman was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man, Taufiq Rashid Khan, under the pretext of marriage. The accused initially promised to convert to Hinduism but later pressured the victim to convert to Islam. Following this, the victim was also sexually exploited and financially defrauded by the Muslim perpetrator. Firstly, the Hindu woman’s relationship with a Muslim man under the pretext of marriage demonstrated the use of a promise of marriage to gain the trust of a woman whose religious identity differed from his own. The promise of marriage became a central factor in her decision to engage with the accused. The concern lay in the fact that her trust, emotional attachment and expectations of marriage were used to secure her continued involvement in the relationship. The religious dimension became particularly significant because the relationship involved differing religious identities and subsequent discussions about conversion. Secondly, the accused initially promised to convert to Hinduism, follow the woman’s religious customs and rituals, and participate in her worship practices, but later pressured her to convert to Islam. This reversal represented the clearest religious concern because the woman’s religious identity became directly involved in the conditions surrounding the proposed marriage. Her initial objection to the relationship had centred on their religious differences, and the promise to adopt her faith addressed that concern. The subsequent pressure on her to convert therefore contradicted the earlier assurance that he would accommodate her religious identity. This revealed that her attachment to her faith and her expectations of marriage were treated with disrespect. These factors highlighted the use of marriage promises to gain a Hindu woman’s trust, the reversal of assurances concerning religious conversion, and the subsequent pressure on her to abandon her Hindu religious identity. Accordingly, this case has been documented in the Hinduphobia Tracker's Hate Crime Database as an instance of religiously motivated hostility directed against Hinduism and the religious identity of the Hindu community. Disclaimer: The exact date when the Hindu woman and the Muslim perpetrator first came into contact was not specified in the available sources. However, the sources indicate that the offences began in September 2024. The tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported or published. In this case, 10th September 2024 has been used as the indicative incident date, aligning the day and month with the date of the first media report, 10th October, and the year with the reported commencement of the incidents in September 2024. This date has been recorded for documentation purposes only.
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 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
