Minor Hindu girl deceived and sexually exploited by Muslim man who wore Kalawa to pose as Hindu

Case ID : aa4b18d | Location : Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 30 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4b18d

Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India

30 April, 2025

Minor Hindu girl deceived and sexually exploited by Muslim man who wore Kalawa to pose as Hindu

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Wears symbols of Hinduism

Case Summary

In Haldwani, Uttarakhand, a 17-year-old minor Hindu girl was deceived by a Muslim man who posed as a Hindu by wearing a Kalawa (a Hindu religious thread) on his hand. The accused was identified as Kaif Saifi, who deceived the girl with the motive to sexually exploit her. A tweet was posted on X, which stated that the victim was from Almora but resided in Paharpani. The Hindu girl was deceived by Kaif with the intent to sexually exploit her. The accused wore a Kalawa on his hand to fake his religious identity. He took the victim to a hotel in Haldwani with the nefarious motive of having sexual relations with her. A few members of Hindu organisations received information regarding this through a few hidden informants. Thereafter, they managed to reach the spot and caught hold of the accused and saved the victim. The police were informed, and they reached the spot and apprehended the accused. The police took the victim to the police station for an interrogation. During police interrogation, the accused, Kaif, confessed to deceiving the Hindu girl with the intent to have sexual relations with her and then exploit her.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is - Man pretends to be Hindu. The tertiary category selected here is- Wears symbols of Hinduism. 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. This case has been added under the category of a hate crime as it fits all the parameters of a religiously motivated crime. The Hindu victim in this case was a minor. The perpetrator pretended to be a Hindu by wearing a kalawa (a sacred religious thread worn by Hindus) in order to exploit her sexually. The first aspect that marks this incident, driven by hate and bigotry, is that the Muslim man masqueraded as a Hindu by wearing a Kalawa. This deceptive and manipulative behaviour, which involved concealing his true religious identity, is a clear case of religious hate. By exploiting religious symbols and rituals sacred to Hindus, the accused not only betrayed the girl's trust but also showed a profound disrespect for her faith. This act is a deliberate and calculated affront to her religious identity. 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. Further, it is pertinent to note that here the victim was a minor. Any attempt to get into a sexual relationship with a minor is illegal ab initio since the minor has no agency to provide her consent. Minors are immature and are vulnerable to such deceptive crimes rooted in religious animosity. They don't have the ability to fully understand the implications of getting into a relationship or converting to another religion, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Since the religious motive of the crime is evident from these facts, this case has been documented as a hate crime.