Muslim man poses as a Hindu to lure woman, forces her to convert after his identity is revealed, threatens when woman refuses, arrested
Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India 
31 January, 2023
Case Summary
In Haridwar, Uttarakhand, Police have arrested man Azhar, a labour contractor, who married a Hindu woman by posing as a Hindu man. Following nine years of marriage, Azhar's real identity was revealed before his Hindu wife, after which she approached the police with a complaint, accusing the man of changing his name and concealing his religious affiliation. She revealed that Azhar had identified himself as Rahul at that time. He also claimed that he has no family. As their bond deepened, the two fell in love, got married, and went on to have two children. Nine years into their marriage, her husband finally revealed the truth and pushed her to become a Muslim. Not only that, the accused spouse also threatened to kill her when she refused. Police revealed that the accused was found to have two Aadhaar cards bearing the names of Azhar and Rahul. The accused was arrested and sent to jail.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. What gives this case a distinct religious angle is that the Muslim perpetrator actively hid his religion and pretended to be a Hindu to ensure that the victim woman married him. He actively continued to hide his religion for 9 long years and live a dual life, as the investigators found he had two Aadhaar cards. Further, when his real identity was revealed, he threatened the Hindu victim to convert to Islam, failing which, he would cause her harm.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 1
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Sources 
