Muslim man Shahnawaz pretends to be Dilip and marries victim in Temple, attempts to forcefully circumcise her son
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India 
13 August, 2023
Case Summary
Muslim man, Shahnawaz of Bhaggu Jalalpu, Ayodhya pretended to be Dilip to marry a Hindu woman, Malti. Malti was a widow and mother of two kids, a 13-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. A day after their marriage in a Temple in Mumbai, Shahnawaz pressurised the victim to do Nikah with him. Shahnawaz then also tried to forcefully arrange circumcision of her son. Malti then filed a police complaint in the Bikapur police station. Shahnawaz was arrested under the provisions of religious conversion.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The victim in the case was a Hindu widow. The Muslim man specifically targeted the woman based on her religion as evidenced by the fact that he pretended to be a Hindu and married her in a Temple, deceiving her. 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. Thereafter, the religious motive of the crime becomes more apparent when he forces the victim to marry him per Islamic rituals and also forcefully circumcises her son - a ritual of conversion in the Islamic faith. 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, the marriage is consensual in most cases and often, there is no element of the man hiding his religious identity. 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. In such cases, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including, denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, forced to read the Kalma, forced to wear a hijab, forced for 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.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
