Hindu woman lured into relationship, pressured for religious conversion and nikah by Muslim man faking Hindu identity
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
22 November, 2025
Case Summary
In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was lured into a relationship and pressured for religious conversion and nikah, Islamic marriage, by a Muslim man named Rehan, who posed as a Hindu man. According to media reports, the Hindu woman was a widow and was living alone. During this time, she came into contact with the accused, Rehan. The accused introduced himself as a Hindu man named Bittu, and gradually lured the victim into a relationship at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable. After some time, he emotionally manipulated her and began pressuring her to convert to Islam and undergo nikah with him. When she refused, the accused became aggressive and began intimidating her. The victim grew suspicious of his behaviour, prompting her to conduct her own inquiry into his background. She eventually discovered that he had been using a false Hindu identity, his real name was Rehan and that he was a Muslim. Shocked by this revelation, she cut all contact with him and attempted to ensure her safety. Due to this, the accused started threatening her and mentally harassing her. Subsequently, the victim approached the police station and filed a complaint. Based on her complaint, the police registered a case against the accused. At the time of writing this report, the investigation is ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. 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- Forced conversion before marriage, with the tertiary category being - Forced to do nikah. 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 sub-category selected here 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 has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman was deceived and pressured for religious conversion and nikah by the Muslim accused, Rehan, who faked a Hindu identity. Firstly, the perpetrator deliberately concealed his religious identity to initiate and sustain a relationship with a Hindu woman. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but is an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs. Such actions reflect a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs, making it a religiously motivated offence. Secondly, the accused pressured her to convert to Islam and perform nikah with him. In Islam, marriage to a non-Muslim partner is prohibited, which is why she was pressured for religious conversion. Pressuring a Hindu woman to discard her faith and embrace another was a direct attack on her religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act is not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Thirdly, when the victim refused, the accused began intimidating, threatening, and mentally harassing her. This deliberate use of threats, coercion, and psychological harassment to compel religious conversion revealed the depth of religious hatred and the calculated attempt to break the victim’s resolve through fear. By employing intimidation and psychological pressure as means of religious enforcement, the accused displayed complete disregard for her autonomy, faith, and safety. These threats were not isolated acts of hostility but were directly intended to make her yield to his demands. The threats against the victim stemmed from religious contempt and were aimed at forcing subjugation through conversion, thereby establishing the act as an anti-Hindu hate crime. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Such acts are not merely personal crimes; they are rooted in a desire to dominate and erase the religious identity of the Hindu victim. 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: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurs or when the victim's ordeal begins, rather than when it gets reported by the media. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 22 November 2025.
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
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
