Hindu girl deceived; Muslim man masquerading as Hindu attempts to marry her in temple
Mubarakpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
16 April, 2025
Case Summary
In Mubarakpur village, Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu girl went missing last week. Her family accused a local Muslim youth, Zubair, of luring and abducting her. Her family stated that he had taken her away under false pretences, intending to change her religion. According to Kotwali in-charge Kailash Chand, Zubair had assumed a false identity and was trying to marry the girl at a temple in Loni. The priest, sensing irregularities, refused to conduct the ceremony and informed the police. Both were detained at Loni railway station. The woman was sent for medical examination, and her statement was recorded before she was reunited with her family. Zubair was taken into police custody.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu, and within it 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 under which this case has been placed is- Brainwashed and/or groomed, and within this, the tertiary category selected is- Family claims grooming. 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. This case qualifies as a hate crime because it involved the deliberate targeting of a Hindu woman through religious deception by a Muslim man. Firstly, the police confirmed that the Muslim accused assumed a false Hindu identity to trap the Hindu victim. He also attempted to marry the victim as per Hindu marriage rituals under a changed name. These themselves are clear manifestations 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 can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. Furthermore, such incidents are considered hate crimes because they involve targeting individuals based on their faith, to alter or erase that identity through deceit, coercion, or violence. In this context, when a woman is lured into a relationship by someone concealing their religious identity, and the relationship is used as a pathway to pressurise or trap her into conversion, the act becomes not only a personal violation but a religiously motivated offence. The targeting of Hindu women through such means constitutes a pattern of communal hostility and religious bias, thereby fitting the definition of a hate crime.
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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
