Hindu woman lured with job by Muslim man, kidnapped, forcibly converted and married
Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
11 December, 2024
Case Summary
A Hindu woman was converted and married by a Muslim man, Mohammed Shafiq, from Larpur (Harpur) village in Sammanpur. Shafiq developed a relationship with the woman during her studies and maintained contact over several years. After her studies, the woman began working at a hospital in Jalalpur, travelling daily. On December 12, the woman left for work with ₹10,000 but did not return home. Her family searched for her and discovered that Shafiq had lured her with a job, kidnapped her, and forcibly converted and married her. Pawan Kumar, a man from Sikandarpur Ruknuddinpur village, was also accused of aiding in the kidnapping. The woman’s father filed a complaint with the police, expressing concerns for her safety. Police registered a case, arrested Shafiq, and recovered the woman. The case included charges under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act. Inspector Jaiprakash Singh stated that Shafiq was produced in court and subsequently sent to jail. The woman underwent a medical examination.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Forced conversion before marriage. Further, based on case details, a tertiary category of- Forced to do Nikah has also been selected. 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. The relationship in such cases is mostly 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. In such cases, 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. In this instance, while the Muslim accused did not hide his identity, the nature of the relationship suggests that the Hindu woman was initially led to believe that her faith would not be a hindrance in their relationship. The accused then lured her under the pretext of getting her a job. He then kidnapped her and forcefully converted her to Islam before marrying her. The details of the case reveal a deliberate targeting of the Hindu woman, with the intent to isolate her from her faith and impose a different religious identity upon her. This manipulation reflects the accused's clear bias against Hinduism. His actions were not just about physical exploitation but were rooted in a desire to strip the victim of her Hindu identity and force her into adopting Islam. Given these elements, the case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime, driven by the accused's animosity towards the Hindu faith.
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 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
