Hindu woman tortured by her Muslim husband; had abducted and forcefully converted her to Islam 12 years ago

Case ID : 5954a72 | Location : Cachar, Assam, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 24 September, 2024
Case ID : 5954a72
location Cachar, Assam, India
date 24 September, 2024
Hindu woman tortured by her Muslim husband; had abducted and forcefully converted her to Islam 12 years ago
Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes
Forced conversion before marriage
Forced to do Nikah

Case Summary

In Assam’s Cachar district, a Hindu tribal woman was found held captive by a Muslim man named Munaf Ali. Ali had abducted the woman 12 years ago. He had converted her to Islam and performed Nikah with her against her will. Since then he has been regularly torturing her for her property. Around three months ago, Locals informed members of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad that a Hindu woman was being brutally tortured at Munaf Ali’s house regularly. The Hindu groups launched a probe and found that Munaf Ali had been torturing his wife and had restrained her with a chain. Subsequently, the woman was rescued with the cooperation of police and local Adivasi residents, and Munaf Ali was arrested. Videos from the house where the woman was held show a long iron chain tied to her left leg, which allowed her to move around inside the house but kept her inside. As per the Hindu Adivasi woman, Munaf used to assault her regularly. She said that she is a Hindu belonging to the tea tribe, and was forcefully converted to Islam. Around, three months ago, he assaulted her badly for refusing to hand over her property, and even attempted to strangulate her. He then tied her leg with an iron chain, keeping her hostage in the house. In response, the woman alerted the neighbours by shouting about the situation. The locals then contacted the Hindu groups, which led to her rescue. After the woman was rescued, the Hindu groups performed ‘Ghar Wapsi’, returning her to Hinduism with Vedic rituals.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Forced conversion before marriage. Further based on case details, the tertiary category selected here is- Forced to do Nikah. 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 case, while the Muslim accused did not hide his identity, the forced conversion of a Hindu woman indicates a clear religious motive. The act of singling her out for conversion, followed by prolonged abuse and captivity, reflects a disregard for her faith and an intent to impose a different religious identity on her. This makes the crime not merely one of personal malice but a religiously motivated hate crime, rooted in undermining the victim's religious beliefs and identity. Consequently, this case has been added to the tracker.

Victim Details

Total Victim

1

Deceased

0


Gender

  • Male 0
  • Female 1
  • Third Gender 0
  • Unknown 0

Caste

  • SC/ST 1
  • OBC 0
  • General 0
  • Unknown 0

Age Group

  • Minor 0
  • Adult 1
  • Senior Citizen 0
  • Unknown 0
Case Status Background
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Case Status


Arrested

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


One Person

Perpetrators Gender


male

Case Details SVG
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