Hindu man commits suicide; accuses wife and in-laws of forcing him to convert to Christianity

Case Summary
Fed up with the harassment by his wife and in-laws to convert to Christianity, a 30-year-old Hindu man committed suicide. A social media post purportedly published by the deceased victim Linesh Sahu stated that his wife Karuna and his in-laws were harassing and pressuring him to undergo religious conversion to Christianity. The police learnt the reason behind Sahu’s suicide after checking his mobile and found that he had put up a WhatsApp status revealing his ordeal before ending his life. The police said that Sahu’s wife Karuna (27), her sister Kiran (31) and parents Gauri (48) and Rajkumar Sahu (54) have been arrested and have been booked on charges of abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Meanwhile, efforts are on to trace Karuna’s younger sister Kanishka.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women, under which, the sub-category selected is- Suicide upon being forced to convert. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the Hindu man faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change his religious identity by the non-Hindu spouse or her family or/and religious leaders. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu spouse known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu spouse starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert. In some of these cases, unable to bear the pressure/threat/violence being mounted by the non-Hindu partner or her family to convert, the Hindu man commits suicide. In such cases, often, threats are also given to the family members of the Hindu man. Since such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim, leading to the Hindu spouse committing suicide, these cases are categorized as a hate crime. The second category under which this case has been placed is- Predatory proselytisation and under this, the sub-category selected is- Suicide after pressure to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, owing to the humiliation or pressure/threat, the victim commits suicide. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The pressure/threat that is employed leads to the Hindu victim taking his own life. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing suicide by the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case is a distinct case of religiously motivated hate crime as the Hindu victim was being forced to give up his professed faith and accept Christianity. Unaccepting, the victim committed suicide. In his suicide note, the deceased confirmed that his wife Karuna and his in-laws were harassing and pressuring him to undergo religious conversion to Christianity. By pushing him towards conversion, the perpetrators aimed to forcefully erase the victim's religious identity, which is a form of religious persecution, stemming from the deep disdain that the perpetrators held for the victim's faith, Hinduism. Since the central motivation here was religion, this case has been added as a hate crime to the database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- 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
Case sub-judice

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both