Hindu woman targeted, threatened with beheading for refusing to convert to Islam by a Musliam man masquerading as Hindu
Mirganj, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Meerganj, Uttar Pradesh, a young Hindu woman was deceived by a man from the Muslim community who concealed his religious identity by wearing Hindu symbols and pretending to visit temples. Gaining her trust, he lured her into a physical relationship. When the woman discovered his real identity and ended contact, the accused threatened to behead her and also that he would release her objectionable photos online if she did not convert and marry him. The woman, a resident of a village near Meerganj town, operates a customer service centre in Meerganj. Afzal Hussain alias Guddu, a resident of Raiya Nagla, started talking to her while hiding his religious identity. He used to wear a kalawa (a sacred Hindu thread) on his wrist and pretended to visit temples. Under this guise, he lured her into a physical relationship. When the woman discovered the man’s true identity, she stopped speaking to him. The accused then began threatening the woman, stopping her on the road and threatening to kill her and her family, and circulating her objectionable photos on social media. Based on the woman’s initial complaint, the police had taken the accused into custody. The accused's family members later arrived in the woman’s village with others and pressured her relatives into a settlement. Even after the settlement, the accused continued to stop the woman on the road and pressured her to convert and marry him. He threatened to behead her, chop off her legs and burn down her house if she did not comply. Finally, the police registered a case against him. Station Officer Prayagraj Singh stated that earlier, based on the woman’s oral complaint, the accused had been detained for questioning. He was released after a settlement was reached. However, a formal case was filed based on the woman’s written complaint.
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 - Man pretends to be Hindu, with the tertiary categories being - Name changed and 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. The other sub-category selected is - Forced conversion before marriage, with the tertiary category being - Forced to do Nikah. 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. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is 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. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both the situations, 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. The other 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 other 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 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. The other primary category selected is - Hate Speech against Hindus. The 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. This case exhibits multiple religious markers that clearly establish it as a religiously motivated crime specifically targeting a Hindu victim. Firstly, the accused, a Muslim man, deliberately concealed his religious identity by adopting Hindu symbols such as the kalawa (sacred thread) and pretending to visit temples to deceive the Hindu woman. This act itself demonstrates a clear bias and malicious intent towards the victim’s religion. By hiding his true identity, he manipulated her trust and targeted her under false pretences, indicating a premeditated effort to exploit her based on her religious background. Further, by exploiting religious symbols and rituals sacred to Hindus, the accused not only betrayed the woman's trust but also showed a profound disrespect for her faith. This act is a deliberate and calculated affront to her religious identity. This deception was not just personal but religious, weaponising trust for the purpose of eventual religious conversion. This element of identity fraud, targeted specifically at the victim’s religious identity, establishes a religiously motivated hate angle. After learning the man’s true religious background, the woman faced pressure to adopt Islam. This wasn’t a mutual choice but a demand that targeted her Hindu beliefs, aiming to suppress her identity. The requirement of nikah, which involves converting to Islam, served as a means of religious coercion. This coercion directly infringed upon her religious freedom, stripping her of the right to practice her own faith and maintain her religious identity. The use of force in converting her demonstrates an attempt to erase her Hindu identity and impose Islamic practices upon her. The accused captured intimate photos of the victim and later used them to blackmail her, threatening to leak the content unless she converted and married him. This use of blackmail was not merely to silence or control the victim but was explicitly tied to religious conversion, making it a form of psychological warfare rooted in religious hostility. The blackmail was religiously motivated, and since the content was used to pressure the woman to abandon her faith, it qualifies as a hate crime. When the woman refused to convert and cease communication, the accused escalated his behaviour, issuing "Sar Tan Se Juda" (beheading) threats and burning down her home. These threats were not general acts of aggression but were explicitly tied to her refusal to abandon her religion and identity as a Hindu. Such violent coercion is a clear act of religious hatred. It demonstrates that the perpetrator’s motivation was not merely to compel affection or reconciliation but to punish the woman for resisting conversion. The threats included not only harm to her own person but also extended to her family. This arm-twisting tactic of threatening family members to pressurise a woman into conversion is an extension of coercion that moves beyond the individual, creating fear for loved ones. Such targeted intimidation of the family, driven by a demand for religious conversion, is a hallmark of hate crimes designed to break the victim’s resistance by endangering those she cares for. The threats issued by the accused included beheading, chopping off legs and burning the home. The beheading threat, in particular, echoes communal forms of violence that have historically targeted individuals for resisting religious conversion or expressing their Hindu identity. These threats are designed to silence critics, instil fear, and enforce compliance through intimidation. These are not threats made in a personal capacity alone but reflect the broader pattern of hate speech directed at Hindus. The threat to burn down her home further elevates the danger from personal to communal. These threats, made in response to the victim’s refusal to convert, establish a clear link to her Hindu identity and therefore qualify as violent hate speech. In conclusion, this case is not simply one of interpersonal violence or sexual exploitation. The deception was religiously premeditated, which involved the accused concealing his true religious identity, coercion aimed explicitly at altering the victim's religious identity, and the violence escalated directly in proportion to her refusal to convert. Each stage of this abuse—from initial deception to sexual assault, blackmail, and threats to her family—was driven by a targeted religious agenda. The cumulative evidence unmistakably frames this incident as a hate crime. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the woman’s ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media.
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
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
