Hindu transgender women coerced to convert to Islam by Muslim transgenders, injected with HIV infected syringes on refusal to comply

Case ID : 9957f06 | Location : Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 31 December, 1999

Case ID : 9957f06

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

31 December, 1999

Hindu transgender women coerced to convert to Islam by Muslim transgenders, injected with HIV infected syringes on refusal to comply

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, several Hindu transgender women were forced to convert to Islam by Muslim transgender individuals. Those who refused to convert were injected with HIV-infected syringes. According to media reports, the victims were associated with a group led by a Hindu transgender woman named Sapna Guru. The Muslim perpetrators were identified as Payal, also known as Naeem Ansari, and Seema Haji, also known as Farzana, along with their group of Muslim transgenders. As per Sapna Guru, the two accused persistently coerced and pressured Hindu transgender individuals from her group to convert to Islam. When they resisted, they were injected with syringes infected with HIV. Out of fear, many Hindu transgenders left Sapna’s Hindu group and, under pressure, joined the Muslim transgender group. Following this, an FIR was registered against the Muslim perpetrators. Even Sapna’s lawyer, Sachin Gaonkar, submitted complaints to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the District Magistrate (DM), and the Police Commissioner. The lawyer stated that 60 transgender women had been infected with HIV and had fallen seriously ill. In total, 100 Hindu transgender individuals were infected and moved around various areas of Indore. Approximately 12 infected individuals were undergoing treatment at the ART Centre at MY Hospital. Sapna Guru recounted that Payal, the Muslim accused, fled from Malegaon in 2000 and arrived in Indore. His wife and children had remained in Malegaon. Following his arrival in Indore, the forced conversions of Hindu transgenders began. Sapna also stated that Seema Haji, another Muslim accused, compelled him to perform the Hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage. A few days after this episode, Sapna began to suspect Payal's intentions and decided to form his own independent group of Hindu transgenders. Subsequently, Seema brought several Muslim transgender individuals from Maharashtra and its surrounding areas to Indore and began issuing threats to Hindu transgender individuals. They began coercing them to convert to Islam. Media reports confirmed repeated clashes between the two groups of transgender people. The disputes frequently reached the police stations. Cases had been filed against members of Seema’s group at the Chandan Nagar and Vijay Nagar police stations for the assault and kidnapping of Hindu transgenders. About a month ago, a major altercation broke out between Sapna Guru’s Hindu group and Payal's Muslim faction. During the incident, the transgender people created chaos within the police station. Sapna Guru lodged a formal complaint with Collector Ashish Singh against the Muslim group. The case was transferred to SDM Nidhi Verma for investigation. In this case, Sapna handed over several video recordings to the investigating officer, where Seema and Payal were seen physically assaulting Hindu transgender individuals. However, the investigation stalled midway. In response to the repeated complaints from Hindu transgender individuals, the police intensified their efforts and attempted to raid Payal’s hideout. However, members of the Muslim transgender group prevented the police from entering the premises. As a result, the Police Commissioner constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the matter. The SIT included Zone 4 DCP Rishikesh Meena, Additional DCP Disha Agarwal, IPS officer Aditya Patale, and ACP Hemant Chauhan. The officials then began an investigation into this case. The Hindu transgender group demanded justice and warned that they would commit suicide if no action was taken against the Muslim perpetrators.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, several Hindu transgender individuals were forced to convert to Islam by Muslim transgender individuals. This was not a random event but a targeted attack on Hindu individuals because of their religious identity. When certain individuals or groups single out Hindus for conversion based on their faith, it reveals a deep disregard for the Hindu religion. Religious conversion, especially when it is not a result of personal conviction but rather due to pressure or harassment, is not simply about changing beliefs. Instead, it is an attempt to erode the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. Here, the Muslim perpetrators deliberately targeted the Hindu transgender group out of deep-seated animosity and hatred for their Hindu identity. The Muslim transgenders forced the Hindu transgenders to abandon their Hindu faith and convert to Islam. Some Hindu victims were compelled to convert, and they joined the Muslim group. This was an act of deliberate coercion with the clear intent to undermine Hindu religious identity. This sustained campaign to forcibly alter someone’s religion constituted a blatant religious hate crime, directly assaulting the individual’s personal identity and religious autonomy. Such actions stem from religious intolerance towards Hindus and hatred for their faith, making this an example of a religiously motivated hate crime. The coercion escalated further when Hindu victims who refused to convert were deliberately injected with syringes contaminated with HIV by the Muslim perpetrators. Between 60-100 Hindu transgender individuals became critically ill, with several requiring treatment. The life-threatening injection was deliberately used by the Muslim perpetrators to instil fear and punish the Hindu victims who refused conversion. These actions served as stark examples of coercion and harassment, calculated to break the spirit of Hindu victims and force them to submit to the demands of conversion, marking a particularly egregious form of religiously motivated crime. There is also a documented history of conflict between the Hindu and Muslim transgender groups concerning these forced conversions, including reports of Hindu transgenders being physically assaulted and kidnapped by Muslim transgenders. Even the Hindu transgender leader, Sapna, was compelled to perform Hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage, by the Muslim perpetrator. All of this indicates that the incidents of forced conversion are not isolated but rather part of a well-planned and deliberate attempt to target and convert Hindu transgenders to Islam using force, violence, and intimidation. Such actions are rooted in hatred and contempt for Hinduism and the Hindu community, making it an instance of religiously motivated crime against Hindus. The Hindu transgender group felt so overwhelmed by relentless violence against them due to their religious identity that they threatened collective suicide unless swift action was taken against the Muslim perpetrators, underscoring the desperation of the victims and the seriousness of the hate crime. This demonstrated the extent of harassment they endured solely for being a Hindu who refused to convert to Islam. The succession of events, encompassing coerced conversion, targeted violence, and the use of HIV infection as a weapon, amounts to a clear case of hate crime directed specifically against Hindus due to their religious identity. Such incidents stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is a subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: Media reports do not specify the exact number of Hindu victims who were forced to convert. However, they do state that nearly 60–100 individuals were infected with HIV for refusing to convert. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we are recording the number of victims as 100. Furthermore, while the reports do not mention the total number of Muslim perpetrators, they consistently highlight two individuals – Payal (alias Naeem Ansari) and Seema Haji (alias Farzana). Hence, for documentation purposes, we are recording the number of perpetrators as 2. Additionally, media reports do not mention the exact date when the ordeal of the victims began. However, they do state that the forced conversions of Hindu transgender individuals started around the year 2000, following Payal’s arrival in Indore. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have used an indicative date of 1st January 2000, even though the media reported this case on 15th July 2025. Hinduphobia Tracker records the date when the victims' ordeal begins rather than the date when it is reported by the media.