Hindu woman harassed and denied right to worship in ongoing pressure to convert: Lord Krishna murti desecrated and thrown into drain
Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
6 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Rampuri locality, under the jurisdiction of the City Kotwali police station, Muzaffarnagar, a Hindu woman was pressured to convert to Christianity by her elder brother-in-law and his wife. According to the complainant, Seema, her brother Pramod Kumar alias P.K. D’Souza, converted to Christianity some time ago. He is employed as a driver for the District Judge of Muzaffarnagar. Since then, he has persistently pressured Seema to adopt Christianity as well. She stated that Pramod’s wife, Anita D’Souza, deceitfully takes her children to their home and performs occult rituals on them. Seema further stated that Pramod had broken the idol of Lord Krishna kept in their home and thrown it into a drain. He also obstructed them from performing religious worship. Seema and her husband have always objected to this, but whenever they approached the police station to lodge a complaint, they were discouraged. The officers reportedly cited Pramod’s position as the District Judge’s driver and expressed reluctance to take any action against him. Seema further stated that due to her attempts to report the matter, Pramod harbours hostility towards her and her family. On the night of January 29, Pramod entered her home under the influence of alcohol. He abused and assaulted her, and when she resisted, he behaved in an obscene manner. When Seema’s son Yashkant intervened to stop him, Pramod tried to strangle him with the intention of killing him. He fled only after Seema’s husband and local residents arrived, threatening to kill them if he got the opportunity in future. Seema stated that she had informed the 112 emergency police helpline immediately, but no action was taken. Instead, on 31 January, she stated that City Kotwali police, acting in collusion with Pramod, detained her husband at the police station throughout the night. The next day, they filed a one-sided case against him under Sections 126, 135, and 170B of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Seema managed to secure his bail with great difficulty. Later the same day, after returning home from securing her husband's release, Seema reported that Pramod and his wife forcibly entered their home once again, assaulted her, and issued further threats. She also recounted an incident on 5 March when her son was attacked outside their house by Pramod and Anita, who warned him not to testify to the police, threatening to kill him if he did. The child narrated the incident to his mother in tears. Following the SSP’s instructions, the police initiated an investigation into the matter.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker un the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category selected here is - Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other sub-category selected is- Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other primary category selected is- Hate Speech against Hindus. The other sub-category selected is - Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. The other primary category selected is - Attack on Hindu religious representations. The other sub-category selected is - Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. This case qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime because a Hindu family was pressured to convert against their will. The underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation itself is animosity towards the professed faith of the victim. In this case, there was coercion and harassment involved in the pressure exerted to forcefully convert the Hindu family. When they resisted, they were subjected to continuous psychological and physical pressure. This is not a matter of private persuasion or dialogue; it involved intimidation, manipulation of her children, and the use of occult practices—all of which serve as coercive tactics. The accused did not allow the family to perform their religious practices and also desecrated a murti (idol) of Lord Krishna by throwing it into a drain. The destruction of the Krishna murti and the prohibition on worship in the home are a direct attack on Hindu religious representation. In Hindu belief, murtis are sacred embodiments of divinity, not just symbolic objects. Destroying a murti in a Hindu home constitutes religious desecration and is a serious offence rooted in animosity towards the faith. The assault on the son with intent to kill, along with the threats to the child warning him not to testify, demonstrate a willingness to use violence to suppress dissent and enforce religious conversion. This case is not merely a domestic conflict or personal rivalry; it is a hate crime where the victim and her family were targeted specifically because of their Hindu religious identity. The sustained harassment, coercion for religious conversion, physical violence, threats, and desecration of religious symbols all indicate that the motive was driven by hostility towards the Hindu faith, making this a clear instance of religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
