Hindu woman pressured to convert by a Muslim youth pretending to be Hindu, barred for doing puja, forced to get her son circumcised
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 October, 2024
Case Summary
In the Ramnagar area of Ayodhya, a Muslim youth deceived a Hindu woman into marrying him by posing as a Hindu. According to the victim's complaint, she was introduced to the accused by a woman. The Muslim youth spiked her drink with intoxicants and sexually assaulted her, and recorded a video of the incident. Later, he blackmailed her into marriage. However, after the marriage, the accused's behaviour began to change. He prohibited her from doing puja-paath. Following the birth of their daughter, the accused revealed his true Muslim identity. After which he began pressuring her to convert to Islam. The situation escalated after the birth of their son on October 28, 2024, when the accused attempted to force the woman to get the son circumcised and demanded that the entire family convert to Islam. When the woman refused, she was beaten, and the accused fled with the woman who had initially arranged their meeting. The victim also stated that the accused deliberately hit her scooter with his car on April 7, 2025, near the Pateshwari Devi temple, leaving her seriously injured. As of the date of writing this report, the police registered a case and began an investigation. Authorities looked into the statements and evidence provided by the victim to determine further action in the case.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker un the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The sub-category selected here is - Man pretends to be Hindu, with the tertiary sub-category being - 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 sub-category selected here is - Forced conversion after marriage, with the tertiary sub-category being - Forced circumcision. 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. The third sub-category selected 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 pressurising 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. The fourth sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Torture of family to force woman to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is forced to convert her religion. Several methods are used for such forced conversion. The non-Hindu man is often documented to issue threats and even employ violence. One of the ways used by such perpetrators is threatening and/or torturing the family members of the Hindu woman to pressure her to convert. The perpetrators in such cases issue threats to harm or torture the family of the woman. In some cases, there is also violence directed towards the family to force the Hindu woman to convert. Such crimes aim to blackmail the victim into changing her religion by inducing fear of harm to her family. 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 category selected here is- Restriction/ban on Hindu practices, and within this, the sub-category selected is- Restriction on expression of Hindu identity. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorised as a hate crime. This incident has multiple religious markers that make it a classic case of religiously motivated hate crime against a Hindu, warranting inclusion in the Hinduphobia tracker. Firstly, the Muslim perpetrator pretended to be a Hindu to befriend the Hindu victim. The act of assuming a false religious identity to deceive and manipulate someone into a relationship is inherently malicious. It undermines the victim's right to make informed decisions about their relationships, especially those that involve significant cultural and religious dimensions. This type of exploitation, particularly when it involves religious deception, highlights a profound disrespect for the victim's faith and autonomy. It is a deliberate and calculated attempt to exert control over her, using religion as a tool of manipulation and domination. Many aspects mark this case as driven by hate and bigotry. Firstly, the Muslim man masquerades as a Hindu to lure the Hindu woman into a relationship. This deceptive and manipulative behaviour, which involved concealing his true religious identity, is a clear case of religious hate. By posing as someone who shares her faith, he manipulated her trust and violated her ability to make informed decisions about her relationships. This deception is not just a personal betrayal but a targeted attack on her religious identity, as the girl's trust was built on the belief that she was interacting with someone from her own religious community. Secondly, he violates her trust by recording obscene videos of her and then uses them to blackmail her into marrying him. After marriage, he barred her from following her religious practices, like performing puja (worship), a fundamental and sacred aspect of Hinduism. This was a direct attack on her religious identity and an attempt to suppress her faith. Further, when his real identity was revealed to the victim, the accused started exerting pressure on the victim to convert to Islam. He attempted to force the woman to get the son circumcised and demanded that the entire family convert to Islam. When the woman refused, she was beaten and abandoned. These were all arm-twisting tactics to coerce the victim into complying with his conversion demands. The use of blackmail, threats and violence to force conversion is a clear demonstration of religious hate, as it targets the victim's religious beliefs and seeks to erase her identity and for these reasons, this case warrants inclusion in the Hinduphobia tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
3
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 3
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 3
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 3
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
