Feroze Alam of Ranchi converts 12 women to Islam; one of his four wives files complaint accusing him of pressuring her to convert and hurling casteist abuses at her
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India 
30 September, 2024
Case Summary
In Ranchi, Jharkhand, a woman, Paulina Hemrom, filed a complaint at the police station accusing her husband, Feroze Alam, of religious conversion. The accused is also reported to have been using casteist words and harassing the victim, including throwing her out of the house. In her complaint, Paulina stated that she married Feroze Alam in 1992 as his second wife, but soon after the marriage, she faced harassment. Feroze had four wives and frequently mistreated her. Paulina also accused Feroze of converting around twelve non-Muslim women and said she was repeatedly pressured to convert as well. Following the death of her son, Paulina advocated for the rights of her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, which led to an assault by Feroze and his family members, after which she was thrown out of the house. Paulina has filed a police complaint against Feroze and his sisters Shahnaz Khatoon, Nikhat Parveen, and Rahnuma Khatoon, seeking justice and preventing other women from experiencing similar mistreatment.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to under three prime categories of the tracker. The first prime category selected here is- Hate crimes against women in relationships and sexual crimes, within which, the sub-category selected is- Forced conversion after marriage. 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 second prime category selected here is- Hate speech against Hindus. Within this, the sub-category selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The third category relevant here is 'Predatory Proselytisation', under which the sub-category and the tertiary category selected are 'Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination' and 'Pattern of targeting Hindu women/minors' respectively. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The case of Paulina Hemrom can be categorized as a religiously motivated hate crime under several distinct categories. First, it falls under hate crime against Hindu women involving forced conversion after marriage, as Paulina, a Hindu woman, was allegedly pressured to convert by her husband, Feroze Alam, soon after their marriage. Despite her resistance, she reportedly endured harassment and discrimination, including caste-based slurs and frequent mistreatment, aimed at undermining her faith. Here, it can be argued though that a caste-specific slur was aimed at her micro identity of belonging to the ST/SC section of the Hindu community and not the victim's Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while the accused hurled caste abuses at the victim, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. Therefore, the fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victim by the perpetrator makes it a religiously motivated hate crime against the victim. Further, this case underscores a pattern of targeting non-Muslim women. Paulina’s account indicates that Feroze had coerced as many as 12 women to convert to Islam. This highlights a broader pattern of proselytization through coercion, manipulation, or subtle indoctrination, which appears to target Hindu women specifically. Such actions are rooted in religious intolerance and are clear manifestations of religiously motivated hate.
Victim Details
Total Victim
12
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 12
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 12
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 12
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
