Hindu woman tortured and given death threats for religious conversion by her Muslim husband and her in-laws

Case Summary
In Nashik, Maharashtra, a Hindu woman was tortured and given death threats for religious conversion by her Muslim husband, Ramzan Jalil Sheikh and her in-laws. According to the complaint filed by the victim, she was tortured, physically and mentally harassed for religious conversion by her Muslim husband since 2019. During this time, she was also financially exploited, with the accused extorting nearly Rs. 6 lakhs from her. The victim stated that her husband initially appeared as a decent man before marriage, but after their wedding, he and his family began demanding money from her and her father. When she became pregnant, her husband and in-laws began pressuring her to convert to Islam. She kept on resisting these conversion efforts. After the birth of their daughter, whom she gave a Hindu name, her husband blocked her road at Sarada Circle and threatened her with a chopper that he would kill her and her daughter if she refused to convert. Despite the threats, the Hindu woman refused to convert, which led to increased violence against her. During her second pregnancy, her husband assaulted her, beat her to the ground, strangled her, and desecrated religious symbols in their home by throwing out pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses. He also attempted to financially exploit her further by demanding that she transfer her parents' property to his name, threatening to murder her family if she refused. As of the date of writing this report, a case was registered by the police against Ramzan Jalil Sheikh (the victim's husband), mother-in-law Nasim Sheikh, two brothers, Sameer and Jamir, sister-in-law Nilofar Sheikh, and her husband Shakeel Sheikh (all residents of Wadala Naka).
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 is: - Forced conversion after marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu man marries a Hindu woman, and the force/pressure to convert to Islam begins after marriage. 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. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act, where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu man starts to pressure the woman to convert to Islam after marriage. 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 situations, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including the denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, being forced to read the Kalma, being forced to wear a hijab, forced to undergo Halala, etc. There are several instances where, after marriage, the woman voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing, however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. The other sub-category relevant here is: - Assault or threat upon refusal to convert When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces threats or assault after she refuses to convert and change her religious identity owing to pressure/force by the non-Hindu man. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts pressurizing the Hindu woman to convert to Islam and upon her refusal, assaults or threatens the victim. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force or threat, are not considered a part of the hate tracker, even though, it may be argued that the woman was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. The next sub-category selected under the above category is- Desecration of Hindu symbols in relationship. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces insult and desecration of her faith (Hinduism) and its symbol because of the inherent disregard for polytheism of the non-Hindu partner. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts desecrating the religious symbols of the Hindu partner out of spite for her faith. 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 here is: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, there is no indication that the Muslim accused hid his identity. Typically, in such situations, the woman is likely led to believe that her faith would not be an obstacle to their relationship. Here, the Hindu woman, trusting the accused's assurances, married the Muslim man. However, after the marriage, he began to harass her to coerce her into abandoning Hinduism. The Hindu woman was tortured and given death threats for religious conversion by her Muslim husband and her in-laws. Her Muslim husband named Ramzan Jalil Sheikh, threatened to kill her and her daughter with a chopper if she refused to convert to Islam. Furthermore, during her second pregnancy, she was also physically assaulted and strangled to force her into religious submission. The purpose of this torture was to coerce the victim into abandoning her faith and accepting Islam. The underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation, driven by animosity towards the victim's professed faith, was evident. The perpetrators used threats and violence to pressure the woman into converting, with the central aim of separating her from her Hindu identity. The accused also threw out pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses from the house in an attempt to insult her faith and alienate her from her Hindu identity. This act was not only a personal attack but a calculated attempt aimed at mentally and emotionally disconnecting her from her Hindu faith and compelling her to accept Islam. This directly infringes upon her religious freedom, stripping her of the right to practice her own faith and maintain her religious identity. The use of force and humiliation in trying to convert her shows a clear intent to erase her Hindu identity and impose Islamic practices. This is not an isolated incident but part of a larger pattern where Hindu women are specifically targeted for their religious identity, for sexual exploitation or religious conversion. Even in this case, he married her by pretending to be a good man. He was fully aware of her Hindu identity before marriage, but chose to deceive her, only to reveal his true motives after marriage and attempted to convert her by force. This stems from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths, in this case Islam, believe that any non-adherent to the faith is to be dehumanised until they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: Media reports state that the victim's ordeal began in 2019, though no exact date or month is provided. To document this case, we have used an indicative date—January 1, 2019—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged on June 5, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.
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 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0

Case Status
Complaint registered

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
both