Hindu woman forced to wear burqa, eat meat and pressured for conversion by Muslim man; accused religious profiled and exploited multiple Hindu girls
Nala Sopara, Maharashtra, India 
8 October, 2026
Case Summary
In Nalasopara, Palghar district, Maharashtra, multiple Hindu girls were religiously profiled and sexually exploited by a 22-year-old Muslim man, Arif Ayub Shaikh, who recorded multiple obscene videos of them on his phone. A Hindu woman filed a complaint revealing that Shaikh had repeatedly sexually exploited her on the promise of marriage and pressured her to convert to Islam, wear a burqa and eat meat. She also stated that she had discovered intimate videos of multiple girls in his Google Photos account. The accused, Arif Ayub Shaikh, who was a gym trainer and social media influencer, was arrested after the Hindu woman revealed that he repeatedly sexually exploited her on the promise of marriage and pressured her to convert to Islam. The woman stated that she had met Shaikh through social media in 2025, and he subsequently pressured her to live with him, change her name and wear a burqa. She was also assaulted and tortured by Shaikh and his family, who pressured her to convert to Islam and prevented her from leaving the house. According to her account, Shaikh’s mother repeatedly contacted her and attempted to influence her by telling her that her family was “very bad” and wanted to kill her. She also stated that she was forced to eat meat. She also described the accused as part of a group that targeted Hindu girls, stating that “inn logo ka gang hota hai” (these people have a gang) and that they primarily targeted Hindu girls. The woman stated that she discovered multiple nude videos of different girls in Shaikh’s Google Photos account. When she questioned him about the videos, he responded by telling her to mind her own business. She revealed that Shaikh had recorded intimate videos of several girls, and multiple girls had been sexually exploited. Simultaneously, the investigation also brought to light that Shaikh had targeted Hindu girls through Instagram, entered relationships with them and recorded their intimate videos without their knowledge or consent. Media reports stated that he had lured 70 to 80 Hindu girls into relationships and sold their videos on pornographic websites. Police recovered numerous videos of women from his mobile phone and began examining digital evidence, including possible links to foreign contacts, to establish the extent of the activity. Following his arrest, several other women came forward to give statements against him. Separately, on 9 October 2026, Shaikh was involved in a confrontation at a gym in Nalasopara West over remarks about Hinduism, Hindu women and Navratri. According to a complaint filed by Shiv Upadhyay of Sakal Hindu Samaj, Shaikh had boasted about seducing 30 to 40 girls during Navratri and made derogatory remarks about Hindu women. A video of the conversation circulated on social media, with people present at the gym corroborating the remarks. The police registered a separate case under provisions relating to promoting religious enmity and the Information Technology Act. Reports also stated that Shaikh had made remarks about condoms being sold at gyms during Navratri. The police investigated the two cases separately while examining digital evidence as part of the investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected here - Forced conversion before marriage with the tertiary category being - Forced to wear hijab. 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. The other sub-category selected here - Brainwashed and/or groomed, with the tertiary category being- Victim says she was brainwashed/groomed and Pattern of targeting Hindus. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The second primary category selected here is - Hate speech against Hindus. Within it, the sub-category selected here - Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The case constituted an anti-Hindu hate crime because the accused's conduct demonstrated that Hindu women were specifically targeted for sexual exploitation and conversion, with their religious identity forming a significant part of the pattern of targeting. The victim revealed that sexual exploitation was accompanied by pressure to abandon her Hindu religious identity and conform to the religious expectations imposed by the accused. The demands that she convert to Islam, change her name and wear a burqa were significant because they sought to alter both her religious affiliation and the outward expression of her identity. The act of forcing the victim to wear a burqa demonstrates the imposition of an Islamic identity upon her. The act went beyond compelling her to change her religion and extended to imposing Islamic customs and dress upon her. By controlling her clothing and compelling her to adopt an Islamic mode of dress, the accused sought to suppress her Hindu identity and impose an Islamic way of life. This forced adoption of religious practices demonstrates hostility towards her existing faith and an intention to replace her Hindu identity with an externally imposed Islamic identity. 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 victim also revealed that she was tortured, assaulted and sexually exploited by the accused and his family. In such cases, sexual exploitation, threats and violence 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 made more susceptible to conversion. This was not random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. The force-feeding of meat to the victim was not a neutral act or a cultural misunderstanding. For many Hindu women, the consumption of meat carries profound religious significance. It is not merely a dietary preference but a matter of faith, identity, and deeply held religious conviction. Forcing meat upon her against her will was an act of religious desecration, a deliberate assault on the most intimate expression of her Hindu identity. It was not done carelessly. It was done to humiliate, to violate, and to signal that her Hindu identity was no longer hers to protect. The victim also described the accused as part of a group that primarily targeted Hindu girls for exploitation. The victim's account, along with the investigation, revealed that the accused approached multiple Hindu women through social media and recorded their intimate videos. Thus, the multiple Hindu women were not merely incidental victims of sexual misconduct but were being selected within a pattern that focused on their religious community. The religious dimension was therefore relevant to understanding the nature of the conduct, rather than treating the case solely as an instance of sexual exploitation. Sexual offences against individual women do not automatically establish religious hatred, but evidence that women were selectively targeted because of their Hindu identity provides a substantive religious nexus. Religiously motivated sexual harassment or assault incidents targeting Hindu women due to their religious identity showcase the deep-seated religious animosity of the accused and his malicious intent to humiliate Hindu women for their faith. By and large, when a community's women face humiliation and targeting for sexual violence, it brings shame to the entire community, and this was done to make the entire Hindu community feel outraged and hurt. Female members sexually harassed by a Muslim perpetrator endure collective trauma, as attacks on women symbolise assaults on community honour and cultural pride. Such acts of targeted sexual violence amount to a clear case of religiously motivated hate crime. Furthermore, a separate incident reported in connection with Navratri added another dimension to the concerns surrounding the case. The accused made remarks about seducing 30 to 40 girls during Navratri and made derogatory comments about Hindu women. These remarks were significant because they invoked a major Hindu religious festival while referring to Hindu women as targets of sexual pursuit. Navratri is a major Hindu religious festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga and her various forms, symbolising the victory of good over evil. It is marked by prayers, fasting, temple worship and traditional celebrations such as Garba and Dandiya, in which Hindu women participate in large numbers. Remarks about seducing Hindu girls during Navratri therefore carried particular significance, as they referred to Hindu women in the context of a festival central to Hindu religious and cultural life. Such remarks demonstrate contempt towards Hindu women and the exploitation of a sacred Hindu occasion to target them. The accused also made derogatory remarks linking Navratri to the sale of condoms at gyms, stating that condoms were sold during the festival. These remarks were significant because they associated a major Hindu religious occasion with sexual activity in a disparaging manner, reducing a sacred festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga to a context for sexual pursuit. When considered alongside his reported remarks about seducing 30 to 40 girls during Navratri, the statements reflected a degrading portrayal of Hindu women and a lack of respect for the religious and cultural significance of the festival. Such remarks contributed to the anti-Hindu dimension of the case by directing sexualised ridicule towards a Hindu religious occasion and the women who participated in it. The statement about seducing 30 to 40 girls was particularly relevant because it presented the pursuit of women during Navratri in terms of numbers and sexual access. Such language becomes relevant to a hate-crime assessment when it is directed at a religious community and considered alongside evidence that women belonging to that community were specifically selected for exploitation. Taken together, the victim's account of targeted exploitation, the pressure to abandon Hinduism, the involvement of family members in that pressure, and the separate remarks directed at Hindu women during Navratri provided grounds to examine the case as an anti-Hindu hate crime. The central concern was not simply that the complainant was Hindu and experienced sexual abuse, but that the pattern connected her Hindu identity to the selection of victims and to attempts to compel a change in religious affiliation. Since the actions were rooted in anti-Hindu hostility, this case was added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest date mentioned is 9 October 2026, when the first complaint was filed against the accused. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as 9 October 2026, though the media reported the incident on a later date.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
