Jamia Millia's disabled Hindu student harassed to convert to Islam, intimidated to wear Hijab to bring ‘Noor’ and not get raped

Case ID : a037810 | Location : Delhi, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 11 October, 2024

Case ID : a037810

Delhi, India

11 October, 2024

Jamia Millia's disabled Hindu student harassed to convert to Islam, intimidated to wear Hijab to bring ‘Noor’ and not get raped

Hate speech against Hindus

Violent threats

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

A disabled Hindu student (Divyang), enrolled in a journalism program at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), lodged a complaint with Delhi police on October 19, describing religious harassment and coercion by fellow students, and lack of support from the university. She stated that since July 2023, she faced sustained pressure to convert to Islam, wear a hijab, and abandon her Hindu faith. The victim, who suffers from dyslexia, had been told by Muslim students to wear a hijab to avoid being raped and to preserve "noor." "Don’t you remember the Kolkata rape case? Those who refuse to wear the hijab face the same fate," she was told at the varsity. She also shared that derogatory remarks about Hinduism and the Ram Mandir had become routine. The harassment included coercive statements intended to destabilise her beliefs, creating an atmosphere of fear and isolation. In her police complaint, the Hindu woman stated that one Ibnay Saud had circulated her phone number in Jamia Nagar. "Since then, perverted calls have become a constant intrusion, stripping away my privacy and leaving me exposed," she added. Saud also stalked her, appearing unannounced in places like the campus canteen, outside the old studio, and even near her residence. JMI students, Danish Iqbal and Mir Kasim, had spread rumours to isolate her, which hindered her socially and academically, leading to her detention for a year. She said that the university failed to accommodate her needs as a differently-abled student, and attendance she had met was omitted from official records. Additionally, she was forced to pay an unexplained fee and received notices of non-compliance despite meeting attendance requirements. "The harassment was not limited to psychological manipulation. It included sexual intimidation, relentless remarks meant to degrade my beliefs, and attempts to destroy my identity as a Hindu woman. The impact on my mental and emotional health has been profound," she said. Attempts to address these grievances were reportedly met with more intimidation. JMI officials called her family to pressure them into convincing her to retract her complaint, and she was summoned to the Proctor's Office where she was advised to withdraw her claims. On October 12, she reported being told to conform to Islamic practices to avoid "severe consequences." After her formal complaint, JMI sent her a legal notice on October 26, asserting that her allegations were "false" and "groundless." The notice threatened defamation action if she did not retract her complaint, heightening her distress.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. 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. This case has all the elements of predatory proselytisation. The Hindu student was being harassed by her colleagues to convert to Islam and wear a burqa. There were substantial efforts to threaten her to convert to Islam and even brainwash her by saying that if she does not wear a hijab she will get raped. When the woman attempted to complaint to authorities, there was further pressure to convert to Islam and threats as well. The perpetrators involved clearly held animosity towards the Hindu girl specifically for her Hindu identity and there were threats to disenfranchise her from her professed faith. For that reason, this case is being added to the hate crime database.