Hindu woman lured into relationship, sexually exploited and murdered by Muslim man in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh
Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, India 
5 August, 2023
Case Summary
A Dalit woman’s body was discovered in a well two years after she went missing. On 6th August 2023, the victim, named Sonam, stepped out of her home to buy a water bottle for her little boy and never returned. Her husband and family searched desperately, and when their efforts brought no answers, her father-in-law filed a missing-person and kidnapping report at the local police station. For months, the family lived in uncertainty and pain, not knowing what had happened to her. Police investigations later found that Sonam had been in frequent contact with a 25-year-old Muslim man named Maseedul, who lived in another village and worked in Delhi. On the day she disappeared, phone records revealed that she had travelled through Jahedipur village and then to Delhi to meet him. When she arrived there, Sonam reportedly discovered that the man had lied about his living situation. He shared a cramped room with several others, and the reality of her circumstances left her distressed and angry. The two returned to Hardoi, where an argument broke out in front of his family. During the confrontation, Sonam threatened to report him for rape and kidnapping. What followed was a moment of horrific violence. In fear and rage, Maseedul strangled Sonam to death. With the help of his father and younger brother, he hid the body in a dry well near their home. The well remained untouched for months until the police discovered skeletal remains, clothing, a hair clip, and slippers that her grieving family later identified as hers. The well had become overgrown and even inhabited by a python, which had to be removed before the remains could be recovered—an eerie testament to how long Sonam’s family had been waiting for answers. After two years of investigation, police arrested Maseedul’s father and younger brother, while the main accused remains on the run. The case, once filed as a kidnapping, has now been updated to include charges of murder and criminal conspiracy.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In this case, a married Hindu woman was lured into a relationship with fake promises, sexually exploited and brutally murdered by a Muslim man. This case could potentially have been an instance of religious profiling of the Hindu victim, where she was targeted for her religious identity before being used and killed. This possibility arises because there have been multiple cases in which Hindu women and girls were targeted by Muslim men for sexual exploitation or forced conversions. The targeting of the Hindu victim in this case could be driven by deep-seated religious animosity. If the Muslim perpetrators had simply sought sexual relationships, Muslim women would have been more readily available to them than a Hindu woman. The fact that the perpetrators deliberately targeted a Hindu woman could suggest religious profiling of the victim. However, it is equally possible that the crime was committed out of opportunity and circumstances rather than outright religious animosity. The victim was an adult and chose to elope with the Muslim man on her own volition. When she found out that the life she was promised was a lie, she threatened to expose the deceit and press charges against the accused. It is entirely conceivable that the man panicked and, to silence the woman, killed her. At present, any form of religious motivation behind the crime remains unclear. The victim’s family have not stated that there was any forced religious conversion or profiling of her based on her Hindu identity. Therefore, this case had been placed under the "Undecided" database. If further information emerges indicating that the crime was motivated by religious animosity, the case would be reassessed and entered into the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the relationship began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the victim went missing: 6th August 2023
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
