Hindu woman deceived in relationship, sexually exploited, later pressured to convert to Islam for marriage by Muslim partner
Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India 
16 October, 2024
Case Summary
A 31-year-old Hindu woman from Bengaluru was deceived, exploited and coerced into converting to Islam for marriage by her Muslim partner, Mohammad Ishaq, and his family. The woman filed a police complaint at the HSR Layout Police Station. According to the woman, the two had first connected on Instagram on October 17, 2024, and their relationship gradually developed. They met in person at a mall in Thanisandra on October 30, 2024, where Ishaq reportedly assured her that he would speak to her parents and marry her. Ishaq later booked a room in Dasarahalli, where he established a physical relationship with her under the pretext of marriage. She stated that he continued to exploit her sexually for months while giving repeated excuses to postpone the marriage. Over time, the victim began to doubt Ishaq’s intentions and discovered that he was simultaneously involved with multiple other women. The situation turned distressing when she found out that he had become engaged to another woman on September 14, 2025. When she confronted him, he threatened and verbally abused her, warning her to stay away. In her statement, the woman also revealed that after she attempted suicide, Ishaq’s family contacted her and suggested a private resolution. However, Ishaq’s elder brother and brother-in-law told her that she would have to convert to Islam if she wanted to marry him. They reportedly instructed her to learn namaz within 40 days, saying that marriage discussions would proceed only after she embraced Islam. The case drew significant attention, with Hindu organisations reaching out to support the victim and describing it as a clear case of deception and forced conversion. Police registered her complaint at HSR Layout Police Station and began an investigation. Political leaders demanded strict action, with former minister C.T. Ravi calling for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe rising cases of forced conversions. BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra said such incidents reflect a growing threat to women’s safety and religious freedom in the state.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This incident has been added to the tracker under the category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected under this is- Forced conversion before marriage. The tertiary category selected is- Forced to follow non-Hindu religious practices. 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. 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, 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. 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 the situations, 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. The other subcategory selected is- Suicide for being forced to or pressured to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with a non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change her religious identity 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. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner to convert, the Hindu woman commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu woman. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the woman committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. This incident also falls also under- Predatory proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and the tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindus. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. Here, the Muslim accused did not conceal his religious identity. Instead, he presented a facade of acceptance, leading the Hindu woman to believe that her faith would not be a barrier to their relationship. Based on this understanding, she entered into a romantic and physical relationship with him, trusting his repeated assurances of marriage. Over time, he exploited this trust, maintaining the relationship under false promises while gradually revealing his actual intent. To pacify her demands for a formal commitment, the accused went so far as to assure marriage and intimacy under the pretext of love, despite never intending to honour his promises. This act was a deliberate manipulation aimed at maintaining control over her while continuing the deception. When the woman began insisting on marriage, the accused and his family made it clear that conversion to Islam was a non-negotiable precondition for any formal union. They even instructed her to learn namaz within a fixed period, saying marriage discussions would proceed only after she embraced Islam. This shift in stance—demanding religious conversion after months of emotional exploitation—exposed the underlying motive. The pressure to abandon her Hindu faith in exchange for marriage highlights the communal nature of the crime. It wasn't just emotional or physical exploitation; it involved a coercive attempt to erase the victim’s religious identity as a Hindu woman. Her subsequent suicide attempt underscores the depth of trauma inflicted by this coercion. The constant psychological manipulation, humiliation, and religious pressure pushed her to emotional collapse, showing how such acts extend far beyond individual betrayal. Such a pattern of building a relationship with a Hindu woman under the pretence of religious acceptance and then weaponising that trust to push for conversion amounts to a religiously motivated violation. This isn’t just a personal betrayal; it is a form of religious coercion rooted in the belief that a Hindu woman’s identity must be altered or suppressed to make her "acceptable." Over time, the victim discovered that the accused had been maintaining relationships with multiple women simultaneously, revealing a pattern of predatory behaviour rather than an isolated case of deception. This discovery underscores that his relationship with the Hindu woman was not rooted in genuine affection but was part of a broader pattern of targeting and exploiting women, particularly Hindu women, under the guise of love. Such repeated behaviour demonstrates that the accused’s actions were not driven by personal attachment but by an ideological sense of entitlement, wherein Hindu women are viewed as targets to be emotionally manipulated, used, and eventually coerced into abandoning their faith. For all the above reasons, this qualifies as a hate crime and warrants inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker.
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 filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
