Hindu widow raped, tortured and forced to convert by muslim man posing as hindu

Case ID : 90a06ff | Location : Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 20 October, 2024

Case ID : 90a06ff

Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

20 October, 2024

Hindu widow raped, tortured and forced to convert by muslim man posing as hindu

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Case Summary

In Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu widow was deceived and forced to convert to Islam by a Muslim man who concealed his religious identity. The accused, later identified as Gaffar from Meerut, initially introduced himself as “Dilip” and gained the trust of the woman and her in-laws after her husband’s death. Under the guise of offering emotional and practical support, Gaffar began visiting the family frequently. Over time, he proposed marriage to the widow, which she refused, although her in-laws approved of the match. Taking advantage of a moment when she was alone at home, he raped her and secretly filmed the assault. Her in-laws later forced her to go with him to Meerut, where she learned his Muslim identity. When she refused to live with him due to religious differences, he began pressuring her to convert to Islam. The victim was confined in a locked room, tortured, and burned with cigarette butts. Her jewellery was taken, and the threats to force her conversion continued. On October 21, 2024, she managed to escape and return to her mother’s home, recounting the ordeal in detail. Despite this, Gaffar continued to threaten her and demanded she return to Meerut. When she approached the police on November 12, 2024, no action was taken. She then escalated her complaint to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), after which Kotwali police were instructed to file an FIR. SP City Kumar Ranvijay Singh later confirmed that a case of rape and threats had been registered against Gaffar.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is: Man pretends to be Hindu, with the tertiary category being: - 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 sub-category selected is - Assault or threat upon refusal to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces threats or assault after she refuses to convert and change her religious identity owing to pressure/force 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 to Islam and upon her refusal, assaults or threatens the victim. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force or threat, are not considered a part of the hate tracker, even though, it may be argued that the woman was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. This incident qualifies as a hate crime due to the clear presence of religiously motivated targeting, deception, and abuse. The perpetrator deliberately concealed his religious identity to initiate and sustain a relationship with a Hindu woman. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. Once his real identity was revealed in Meerut, Gaffar began pressuring the victim to embrace Islam. When she refused, he escalated to physical assault, torture with cigarette burns, and threats to her safety. These acts of violence were directly linked to her refusal to abandon her Hindu faith, demonstrating a clear religious motivation behind the crime. The coercion, threats, and abuse were not merely acts of personal animosity but were intended to force a change in her religious identity, targeting her because she was Hindu and resisting conversion. The victim was targeted because she was Hindu, and that makes this a clear-cut case of a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus. Hence, this case is included in the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the woman's ordeal began, but it mentions that the victim managed to escape from captivity on 21st October, 2024. Since this is the earliest date mentioned, we are considering this as when the victim's ordeal began and using this as the incident date. While media coverage of the incident emerged later, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.