Hindu girl dies by suicide after repeated harassment and pressure to convert by Muslim man

Case ID : aa4b086 | Location : Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 23 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4b086

Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India

23 April, 2025

Hindu girl dies by suicide after repeated harassment and pressure to convert by Muslim man

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Suicide for being forced to or pressured to convert

Case Summary

In Kadampur village of Etawah district, a young Hindu girl, named Priya Tiwari, succumbed to her injuries after attempting suicide. The girl had been under persistent harassment by a Muslim man named Rizwan, who pressured her to convert to Islam and marry him. Investigations revealed that Rizwan used to send obscene images to the girl, molested her, and issued death threats against her and her family, particularly targeting her brother. The victim’s brother stated that Rizwan not only harassed his sister in public but also came to their home to intimidate her. On April 24, Rizwan also threatened to kill the entire family. A formal complaint was lodged at the Usrahar police station on April 26 against Rizwan and two of his associates, yet the family stated that police took no effective action. Despite the complaint, the accused continued his harassment and threats. Distressed by the ongoing pressure and the authorities’ inaction, the girl consumed poison. She was admitted to the hospital in critical condition but died during treatment. Following her death, the police registered a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 66d of the IT Act, for abetment of suicide. As of the date of writing this report, both Rizwan and his brother Salman were arrested by the police.

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. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Suicide for being forced to or pressured to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with a non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change her religious identity 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. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner to convert, the Hindu woman commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu woman. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the woman committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. The other sub-category relevant 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 constitutes a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime. Rizwan pressured a Hindu girl into converting to Islam and marrying him, despite her lack of consent to such conversion or marriage. Over a sustained period, he subjected her to repeated threats, harassment, and intimidation, both publicly and at her residence, and even threatened her family members. His coercive behaviour and harassment became so relentless and intense that the girl, unable to bear the mental and emotional pressure any longer, was driven to commit suicide. This shows the deep-seated hatred in the mind of the accused, who was determined to convert the girl at any cost. His persistent harassment and the use of threats indicate not only his jihadi mindset but also a deeper ideological animosity directed against the girl’s Hindu religious 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 to force conversion highlights the extent of disdain the accused harboured for the victim's faith, making this a clear case of religiously motivated hate.