Hindu woman drugged, raped, and blackmailed with threats to convert to Islam
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India 
22 April, 2025
Case Summary
In Rishikesh, Dehradun district, a young Hindu woman lodged a complaint against a man from a Muslim community. She accused him of rape, blackmail and forced convertion. The woman narrated that she met Sahil, the son of late Abdul Rashid, a Shanti Nagar, Bankhandi resident, seven months ago. Sahil drugged her with a spiked drink and subsequently raped her. He also recorded obscene videos during the assault and later used these to threaten her. She stated that he warned her against disclosing the incident and pressured her to convert to Islam and marry him. Based on her complaint, the police registered a case under the relevant legal provisions and arrested the accused. The victim further stated that the accused threatened to kill her and release the explicit video online if she resisted. For several months, she endured the intimidation and abuse, hoping he would relent. However, when his behaviour worsened, she gathered the courage to approach the police. On the basis of her detailed account, a formal case was registered, and the accused was taken into custody. He was later produced in court for further proceedings.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case was categorised under the primary category- Crime against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the first sub-category 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 second sub-category relevant here 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. The relationship in such cases is mostly 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. In such cases, 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. In this instance, there is no specific element of the Muslim accused hiding his identity. The Hindu woman was not in any relationship but simply acquainted with the Muslim man. The latter took advantage of this and drugged her. He then sexually assaulted her and recorded the act, which he used to blackmail her to give up her professed faith and convert to Islam. He also forced her to perform Nikah with him, and when she resisted, he threatened to kill her. This act goes beyond mere criminal behaviour. It is, in fact, a calculated and malicious attack on the victim's religious identity. The use of blackmail to force conversion is a clear demonstration of religious hate, as it targets the victim's religious beliefs and seeks to erase her identity. This case is a glaring example of how deep-seated intolerance can manifest in violent and coercive actions, with the ultimate goal of religious subjugation and domination. The harassment and the subsequent attempt to force conversion highlight the extent of disdain the accused harboured for the victim's faith, making this a clear case of religiously motivated hate
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 
