Hindu nurse driven to suicide after being blackmailed and pressured to convert by Muslim man posing as Hindu
Cuttack, Odisha, India 
28 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Cuttack, Odisha, a Hindu woman was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man named Saniripan, who posed as a Hindu named Amar to deceive her. The Hindu woman was sexually exploited and blackmailed with obscene photos and videos. At the same time, the victim was pressured to convert to Islam and marry by the Muslim perpetrator. Following this, she faced constant harassment, which ultimately drove her to take her own life. According to media reports, the Hindu victim, a young nurse, had been working at a local health centre in Cuttack. The Muslim accused initially introduced himself as a Hindu and lured her into a relationship. She was then sexually exploited and secretly recorded in compromising situations. The man's true identity and religion were only revealed later. He then pressured the nurse to convert to Islam for marriage, and when she refused, he began blackmailing her, threatening to leak her personal photos and videos. The accused subjected the nurse to relentless harassment. The abuse became so severe that she resigned from her job. Despite this, he continued to coerce and torment her, insisting she convert and marry him. Unable to withstand the ongoing harassment, the nurse ended her life on 29th June 2025, hanging herself in her rented house. News of her suicide spread rapidly, provoking outrage within the local community. Family members of the victim and other villagers demanded justice and severe punishment for the accused, whose deceit and emotional cruelty drove the Hindu woman to suicide. Police found obscene videos, photos, and chats between the victim and the accused on her phone. The last person the victim spoke to was Saniripan. He had called her more than 300 times within a short span. Police responded swiftly, launching an investigation and arresting the accused, who had fled to the Kasimundi area in West Bengal. Law enforcement officers confirmed that further enquiries were ongoing and all relevant evidence was being collected.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. Within this, 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. The other subcategory selected is- Forced conversion before marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. The other subcategory selected 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 other subcategory selected is- Suicide for being forced to or pressured to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with a non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change her religious identity 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. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner to convert, the Hindu woman commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu woman. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the woman committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. In this case, a Hindu woman was lured into a romantic relationship by a Muslim man who was pretending to be a Hindu. During the relationship, he sexually exploited her and subsequently pressured her to convert to Islam and marry him. The religious motivation behind this crime is clear from the very outset: the perpetrator hid his identity to specifically target a Hindu victim. This act alone is a direct manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards her faith. By exploiting her trust under false pretences, he revealed a premeditated intention to manipulate her based on her religious background. The deliberate tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity is not simply an act of personal betrayal; it reflects a deeper disregard for Hinduism and its customs, revealing a profound animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs, thereby making this a religiously motivated hate crime. The accused’s sexual exploitation of the victim under a fabricated Hindu identity was not merely a personal transgression but a calculated effort to violate a Hindu woman by deception, directly tied to her religious identity. Such cases, where a Muslim perpetrator uses a false Hindu identity to target and exploit Hindu women, are clear examples of religiously motivated predation. Following this, the victim was also forced to convert to Islam and marry the Muslim perpetrator. This compulsion for her to renounce her faith and adopt the perpetrator's religion exposes a core motive of religious hostility. These acts are not about mere relationships but illustrate a wider pattern of seeking to undermine the religious and personal autonomy of Hindu women through deception and manipulation. Forcing someone, through manipulation and coercion, to abandon their religion is a fundamental violation of dignity and identity driven by religious bias, making it a religiously motivated crime. When the Hindu victim resisted the perpetrator's demands and refused to convert, the accused escalated his abuse, blackmailing her with obscene photos and videos. His threats served not only to shame and control her, but to further pressure her into conversion. This emotional exploitation, intertwined with demands for religious conversion, starkly demonstrates the perpetrator's deliberate animosity towards her as a Hindu woman and his intent to strip her of her faith and self-respect. Such actions are rooted in deep-seated hostility towards Hinduism and its adherents. The harassment became so overwhelming and unrelenting that the Hindu victim, unable to find support or escape, took her own life. Her suicide stands as a tragic testament to the unbearable mental and emotional torment she endured. The sheer extent and cruelty of the abuse reveal the calculated and sustained nature of his persecution, driven by religious prejudice and a desire to dominate and break her spirit. The fact that constant pressure and harassment for conversion drove her to end her life underscores the religiously motivated nature of this crime. Given that this case meets multiple parameters of a religiously motivated crime, it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not mention the exact date on which the victim was first lured. However, they confirm that she committed suicide on 29th June 2025. Therefore, for documentation purposes, an indicative date of 29th June 2025 is being used as the date of the incident. Hinduphobia Tracker records the date when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than when it is reported.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
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 
