Hindu man faces death threats from Muslim wife's family after consensual interfaith marriage in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : 45f4f42 | Location : Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 27 November, 2025

Case ID : 45f4f42

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

27 November, 2025

Hindu man faces death threats from Muslim wife's family after consensual interfaith marriage in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman

Hate speech against Hindus

Violent threats

Case Summary

A newly married Hindu couple in Modinagar, Ghaziabad district, faced threats of honour killing due to their interfaith marriage. The Muslim woman, Saniya Saifi, converted to Hinduism, changed her name to Sannu Kardam, and married a Hindu man who lived in the same neighbourhood. According to the man, their interaction began with simple conversations, which eventually developed into a romantic relationship. Both families disapproved of the relationship and were initially opposed to the marriage. The couple, despite the family's disapproval, married in a court in mid-2025. However, once the girl’s family found out about the marriage, her brother called the Hindu man on 28 November 2025 and threatened to kill him. He stated that he was not afraid of going to jail and was willing to commit murder. Following the threat, the couple has been living in fear. They have requested police protection and filed a complaint, seeking action against the threat. The couple’s video and the recorded threat call went viral on social media. The duo also approached a Hindu organisation, the Hindu Raksha Dal, where they were promised protection and support by the activists. The ACP of Modinagar assured that no one will be allowed to harm others, and the authorities are taking steps to address the situation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the first primary category: Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within this, the subcategory selected is: Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman. There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or suspected of being associated, or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman; however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that many instances of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered specifically owing to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimise the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or for being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence, and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other, where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases is there an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The second primary category selected is: Hate speech against Hindus. Within this, the subcategory selected is: Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, are the most dangerous form of hate speech since they go beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example, in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma, thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. This case illustrates a distinct pattern of religiously motivated aggression falling under the primary categorisation of violence against men for associations with non-Hindu women, specifically manifesting through the subcategory of attacks perpetrated by the non-Hindu partner’s family. The threats issued against the Hindu man by Sania Saifi's brother derive exclusively from his Hindu identity and his intention to marry a Muslim woman without converting to Islam. Such conduct fulfils the criteria for a religious hate crime, as the hostility is directed not toward the individual per se, but toward the religious community he represents. In the Islamic faith, a marriage is deemed illegitimate if the non-Muslim partner does not convert to Islam. For those who practice the faith, when their daughter marries a Hindu man without the man converting to Islam, the difference in religions followed becomes the main point of disapproval for the family of the Muslim woman. Because of the ingrained element of religious supremacy in Islam, even if the motivations are not explicit, it can reasonably be concluded as one of the determining factors of the assault or murder committed by the Muslim family against the Hindu man. This is a clear instance of religiously motivated violence targeting a Hindu man for being in a consensual interfaith relationship with a Muslim woman. It is important to note here that both the man and the woman involved in the relationship were adults and capable of making their own decisions and life choices. In fact, the Muslim woman released a video confirming the consensual nature of the relationship. Despite this, they were given death threats by her brother. Such actions go far beyond personal outrage and reflect a deeper religious hostility. This incident falls into a broader and disturbing pattern where Hindu men are targeted specifically for being in relationships with Muslim women. These assaults are often framed as matters of "honour," but the underlying motivation is deeply religious. In many such cases, the religious identity of the Hindu male partner, or his family, becomes the key trigger for violence, especially when there is no conversion to Islam. Even if conversion is not directly demanded in every case, the death threats or violence are often aimed at punishing the Hindu man for not adhering to Islamic norms in the context of a relationship with a Muslim woman. The death threats issued by Sania's brother were clearly rooted in religious animosity against her husband's Hindu identity. His actions were not driven by concern for the woman's well-being, who had, anyway, consented to the marriage, but by anger over a Muslim woman marrying a Hindu man without religious conversion. This makes it not just a case of familial opposition, but a hate crime motivated by religious bigotry. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the incident date based on when the threatening call was made by Saina's brother: 28th November 2025. Disclaimer: Although the case involves both a Hindu man and a Muslim woman, the victim count has been recorded as one in this entry. This is because the Hinduphobia Tracker primarily documents crimes and threats targeted against Hindu individuals, and in this instance, the Hindu man is the direct victim of hostility and death threats from the woman’s family due to his religious identity. While the woman, Sannu, also faced familial pressure and emotional distress, her experiences are documented within the context of the same case, but for consistency in categorisation, the official victim count remains one.