Hindu woman lured, raped, targeted for conversion, by a Muslim man and his nephew, in Barielly, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : 30ab2bb | Location : Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 20 October, 2026

Case ID : 30ab2bb

Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India

20 October, 2026

Hindu woman lured, raped, targeted for conversion, by a Muslim man and his nephew, in Barielly, Uttar Pradesh

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, an adult Hindu woman was raped and targeted for conversion by a Muslim man. Abdul Rehman, a 55-year-old man from her village, and his nephew lured her to Delhi on 21 October 2026. The woman stated that Abdul Rehman raped her in Delhi and pressured her to convert to Islam. Her father lodged a complaint against him at the police station on 22 October, following which the police traced and found her. The woman further stated that Abdul Rehman took ₹5 lakh in cash and gold and silver jewellery from her home. She had kept the money and jewellery there in connection with the proposed sale of land. She also stated that the village head's husband pressured her family to give statements in Abdul Rehman's favour. The woman later approached the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), seeking an impartial reinvestigation into the rape, pressure to convert to Islam and removal of the money and jewellery from her home. She also stated that she was pressured into changing her statement in court and that the police had not taken steps to recover the stolen money and jewellery. On the night of 28 October, the police arrested Abdul Rehman during a checkpoint operation and recovered an illegal firearm from him. Police produced him before a court and sent him to jail. Amla Superintendent of Police Hemant Upadhyay said an investigation was underway based on the woman's complaint and that further action would follow. The Hinduphobia Tracker team contacted Bhamora Police Station to verify the woman's religious identity and age. A police officer at the station confirmed that she is Hindu and an adult woman, not a teenager. Accordingly, this entry identifies her as an adult Hindu woman.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected for this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory selected is: Harassment, threat, 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. This case concerns the targeting of an adult Hindu woman through pressure to convert to Islam. Pressuring her to abandon Hinduism and adopt another religion directly interfered with her religious identity and her freedom to practise her professed faith. The religious dimension of the incident lies in the attempt to influence her religious affiliation through coercive circumstances. The freedom of religion includes the right to retain one's faith, practise it and make independent decisions about religious belief. A person's religious identity cannot be subjected to pressure or intimidation to secure a change of faith. Pressuring a Hindu woman to leave Hinduism and adopt Islam infringes upon her freedom of conscience and her right to determine her own religious beliefs. Such acts are carried out by Muslim perpetrators due to indoctrination by Islamic theology, which advocates that all non-Muslims (referred to as kafirs) are inferior and subject to subjugation unless they convert to Islam or live under Islamic rule (dhimmitude). These ideas are not mere abstractions; they manifest in actions where non-Muslims, especially Hindus in India, are seen as targets for religious domination, coercion, or humiliation. This theological framework fosters an "us versus them" mindset, in which any assertion of Hindu identity or religious freedom is seen not only as undesirable but as a threat to Islamic supremacy. As a result, perpetrators who are shaped by such teachings feel justified, even morally obligated, to harass, suppress, or violently attack Hindus, particularly when Hindus assert their religious rights or resist conversion. As a result, Muslim perpetrators invoke such doctrines to justify coercive attempts to convert non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, portraying conversion as a means of abandoning Kufr (a state of disbelief in Islam or disbelief in Islam) and attaining salvation. Such acts, therefore, are not isolated but driven by a broader ideological hostility towards Hindus as non-believers and reflect an attempt to impose religious dominance. Since this case was also not a random isolated incident of grooming of a minor but a premeditated attack motivated by bias and hatred against the Hindu community, which is a defining feature of hate crimes, this has been added to the tracker. The woman was taken from her village to Delhi on 21 October, where she was raped and pressured to convert to Islam. The combination of sexual violence and religious pressure placed her in a situation of vulnerability and intimidation. Using such circumstances to influence a person's religious choice undermines the voluntary nature of religious belief and conversion. The incident also involved serious violations of the woman's bodily autonomy, dignity and personal security. Sexual violence and pressure to change religion together affected both her personal freedom and her ability to exercise her religious choice independently. The targeting of her Hindu identity through conversion pressure gives the incident a direct religious dimension. Every individual has the right to retain and practise their faith without being subjected to coercion or intimidation. Pressuring a Hindu woman to adopt another religion violates this fundamental freedom and undermines her autonomy over her religious identity. The conduct described in this case therefore has a clear religious nexus and is documented as an anti-Hindu hate crime.