Saddam Hussain disguises as Ishwar, marries Hindu woman with Hindu rituals, forces her to convert to Islam, attempts black magic on son
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 
1 November, 2024
Case Summary
In Bengaluru, a woman Vanajakshi filed a complaint against her husband, Saddam Hussain (also known as Ishwar), reporting him of abuse, forced conversion, and threats to her and her child’s safety. They initially met in 2020 while working at Blue Dart, and after a Hindu wedding that year, Hussain’s behaviour grew controlling. Vanajakshi stated he later forced her into a second marriage ceremony under Islamic customs, with his associate Nayaz pressuring her to convert to Islam and adopt the name Sadia Kausar. She described enduring abuse during her pregnancy and after their son, Karan Raj, was born. She stated that Hussain expressed intentions to perform black magic on their child, hoping to gain power. On October 13, Hussain and Nayaz allegedly attempted to abduct their son near their Tumkur residence. Vanajakshi managed to escape with her son, aided by neighbours, but went into hiding out of fear. Despite multiple complaints, Vanajakshi stated local police dismissed her reports, prompting her to appeal to the Police Commissioner for protection. In her statement, she expressed urgent fear for their lives and called for immediate action, highlighting issues of domestic violence, forced conversion, and black magic practices.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being categorised under the primary category 'crimes against women in relationship and sexual crimes' under various sub-categories, owing to the several indicators of religiously motivated hate crimes. The first sub-category is 'man pretends to be Hindu' and the tertiary categories selected are 'name changed' and 'marries as per Hindu rituals'. 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 is 'forced to convert after marriage'. In such cases, a non-Hindu man marries a Hindu woman and the force/pressure to convert to Islam begins after marriage. In such cases, the marriage is consensual in most cases and often, there is no element of the man hiding his religious identity. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu man starts to pressure the woman to convert to Islam after marriage. In such cases, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including, denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, forced to read the Kalma, forced to wear a hijab, forced for Halala, etc. There are several instances where after marriage, the woman voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing, however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. In this case, the Muslim perpetrator pretended to be a Hindu to trap the Hindu women who he targeted based on her religious identity. Further, the Muslim man pretended to marry her according to Hindu rituals, gaining her trust further. It was after this marriage that the Muslim man began pressuring the Hindu victim to convert to Islam by forcing her to do Nikah. The deception of marrying per Hindu rituals gaining the trust of the victim and then forcing her to convert to Islam points towards the religious animosity that the perpetrator harboured leading to him targeting the Hindu victim. The third sub-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. In this case, the woman has testified that the Muslim perpetrator tried to abduct their son and conduct ritualistic practices on the son, endangering her life and the minor's life. This clearly points to threats that she was receiving when she refused to convert to Islam. Because of the various components of hate crime in the case, this is being added to the hate crime database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
