Case Summary

In Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man named Ashiq, also known as Nizamuddin alias Chand. He posed as a Hindu man named Rahul to deceive the Hindu victim and sexually exploit her. Following this, he took obscene photos and videos of her and used them to blackmail her. He also threatened to kill the victim and her family, and also threatened to cut his own wrist. A video of the incident went viral on social media. In the video, the victim described her ordeal, explaining how she was deceived by the accused around 6 months ago. Back then, the Muslim accused was pretending to be a Hindu man named Rahul, before sexually exploiting her. The victim owned a shop. When she discovered his true identity, she distanced herself from him, but the Muslim accused began blackmailing her by threatening to make the pictures and video viral on Instagram. Ashiq also threatened to slit his wrist if she did not comply with his demands. As per the victim, the Muslim accused also threatened to kill the victim and her family if she didn't comply with his demands. A case was registered against the accused on 2nd August 2024, and the Mathura police arrested him. The Mathura police also confirmed the case was registered against the accused in the Govindnagar Police Station.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. The tertiary category selected is- Name Changed. 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. The other subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or Groomed. The tertiary category selected is- Rape and sexual assault/harassment. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. This case qualifies as a hate crime against a Hindu woman due to several key factors rooted in religious animosity. The accused deliberately concealed his Muslim identity by posing as a Hindu, indicating a targeted effort to deceive and exploit the victim based on her faith. This manipulation reflects a calculated attack on her Hindu identity. The perpetrator’s act of deception by posing as a Hindu demonstrates clear bias and malicious intent towards the victim’s religion. By hiding his true identity, the Muslim man exploited the Hindu woman’s trust and targeted her under false pretences, revealing a premeditated effort to exploit her based on her religious background. This constituted a direct violation of her religious beliefs. The perpetrator’s deliberate decision to conceal his religious identity strongly underscores the religious motive behind this crime. In such cases, identity concealment is not merely a deceptive tactic for personal reasons but a calculated strategy rooted in religious profiling and targeting. The accused knew that the victim, being Hindu, would likely reject his advances if she knew his true identity, so he circumvented this by lying, pointing directly to a religiously driven intent. This deception fits within a broader pattern where Hindu women are specifically singled out using false identities, often with coercion or conversion in mind. Such targeted victimisation based on religion not only demonstrates a fundamental disregard for Hinduism but also exposes deeper animosity towards the Hindu community. The sexual exploitation and subsequent blackmail were not random acts of violence but were carried out with the intent to harm the victim emotionally and socially by undermining her religious and personal dignity. This targeted sexual exploitation of a Hindu woman due to her religious identity clearly demonstrates the religiously motivated nature of the crime. Following this, threats to kill the victim and her family, along with self-harm threats, further reveal a campaign of intimidation aimed at silencing and controlling her through fear. Such acts of coercion are designed to silence a Hindu victim when she resists the Muslim perpetrator and his actions, emphasising the religiously motivated nature of the crime. Taken together, these actions highlight a pattern of religiously motivated abuse, where the victim was singled out because of her Hindu faith. The objective was not merely personal gain but to violate and demean the victim’s religious identity, marking the crime as an expression of hate against Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Hinduphobia Tracker records the date based on when the victim’s ordeal began rather than when the incident came to light. However, in this case, the available information does not specify the exact date when her ordeal began. It only states that the victim was targeted 6 months ago. The date when the FIR was filed is 2nd August 2024. Therefore, we are using an indicative date- 2nd February 2024- as the date of the incident in this case.