Hindu woman trapped in a fraudulent marriage by a Muslim man pretending to be Hindu; tortured and forced into religious conversion
Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
28 March, 2025
Case Summary
A 24-year-old Hindu woman from a village in the Seorahi police station area of Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, filed a case against a Muslim man, accusing him of concealing his religion before marriage and later coercing her into religious conversion. The Tamkuhiraj police registered a case against the accused and took him into custody for questioning. According to the woman's statement in the FIR, she met the accused three years ago when she was 21. He introduced himself as Guddu and developed a close relationship with her. Eventually, he married her following Hindu rituals. However, she later discovered that his real name was Firoz. The victim stated that after marriage, Firoz pressured her to convert to Islam. When she refused, he kept her confined in a room and subjected her to physical abuse. On 15th March, Firoz mistakenly left the room key outside, allowing the victim to escape with the help of a village girl. She fled to her maternal aunt's house in the Shyamdeurwa area of Maharajganj district, where she recounted her ordeal. On March 29, 2025, she, along with her family, approached the Tamkuhiraj police station and lodged a complaint. Inspector confirmed that the accused, Firoz alias Guddu, had been arrested and was being interrogated. It is important to note that while LiveHindustan reported that the victim was a minor, Hinduphobia Tracker accessed the FIR, in which the victim testified that she is currently 24 years old and that she was trapped three years ago. Based on her complaint, a case was registered against the accused for deceiving her into marriage by hiding his religion, pressuring her to convert, and subjecting her to physical abuse.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu, and within this, the two tertiary categories chosen are- Name changed and Marries as per Hindu ritual. 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 second sub-category selected under the above-mentioned category is- Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The third sub-category selected under the above-mentioned category 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 case qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime as it involves deliberate deception, coercion, and violence aimed at forcing a Hindu woman to convert. The accused, Firoz, initially concealed his religious identity by introducing himself as Guddu and marrying the victim under Hindu rituals. This deception was not incidental but a calculated act to gain the victim’s trust. Once she was committed to the relationship, he revealed his real identity and began pressuring her to convert to Islam. When she refused, he subjected her to physical abuse and confined her in a room, restricting her movement and freedom. This crime falls under multiple categories of religiously motivated offences. The first is deception with the intent to convert, as the accused misrepresented his identity and married the victim under false pretences. The second is coercion and blackmail, where the victim faced increasing pressure to convert, followed by physical abuse when she resisted. The third is threats and violence upon refusal to convert, as she was forcibly confined and assaulted for not complying with the accused’s demands. These actions establish that the crime was not merely about a personal dispute but was rooted in the victim’s religious identity, making it a targeted act of hate against Hindus.
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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
