Shadab lures tribal girl by pretending to be in love, forces her to convert before marriage
Harda, Madhya Pradesh, India 
26 September, 2024
Case Summary
On 27th September, a 19-year-old girl from a tribal community, accompanied by her family, lodged a written complaint at the police station in Harda district. She reported that Shadab, also known as Salman, son of Munawwar from Sehore district, deceived her by pretending to be in love. Over the course of two years, he sexually exploited her. On 29th May, Shadab visited her home while she was alone and insisted that he would only marry her if she converted to Islam. He vowed to make her his wife. On 23rd August, Shadab called her again, forced her into a physical relationship, and reiterated that she must embrace Islam to marry him. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident. Distressed, the girl finally confided in her family, who took her to the police station to file the complaint. The police registered a case against Shadab under sections 69, 64(2)(D), and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Hate crimes against women in relationships and sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category 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. The relationship in such cases is mostly 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. In such cases, 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 instance, there is no specific element of the Muslim accused hiding his identity. In such cases, the woman, in all probability, is made to believe that her faith would not stand in the way of their relationship. Here too, taking the accused’s word for it, the Hindu woman entered into a romantic relationship with the Muslim man. The Muslim man continued to take advantage of her physically under the guise of marriage, but when the time came to honour his word, his true intentions became clear. He forced the woman to give up her professed faith and convert to Islam. He threatened her if she revealed the truth to anyone. By forcing the victim into a physical relationship and then demanding her conversion as a prerequisite for marriage, Shadab revealed his ulterior motive—manipulating her beliefs to align with his own religious identity. The coercion into conversion reveals a deeply rooted animosity toward the Hindu woman's identity, characterizing this incident as a targeted assault not just against the individual, but against her religious and cultural identity as a Hindu.
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 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
