Hindu woman lured away from her husband by Muslim man posing as Hindu, abandoned after rejecting conversion

Case Summary
A 37-year-old Hindu woman from Darbhanga was deceived and abandoned by a Muslim man named Sikandar. The woman said that Sikandar misled her by concealing his identity and posing as a Hindu, eventually marrying her under false pretences. Her ordeal began in 2020 while living in Gujarat with her husband and children. Due to her children's online education, she became active on Instagram, where she befriended Sikandar. Presenting himself as a Hindu, Sikandar initiated conversations, proposed marriage, and promised to adopt her children. In 2022, persuaded by Sikandar's assurances, she left her husband and moved to Mumbai with her three children to start a life with him. Initially, Sikandar introduced her to a woman named Rubina and arranged for them to stay at her home in Dharavi. Later, they shifted to a rented house in Kharghar. Throughout their cohabitation, Sikandar pressured her to convert to Islam, stating he would only remain with her if she complied. The victim chose to ignore these demands. The victim released a video narrating her ordeal, in which she said, “He insisted that I accompany him to a Maulvi for religious conversion and said he’d only accept me after I changed my faith.” In September 2024, Sikandar suddenly disappeared, taking with him her jewellery, documents, and savings. The woman subsequently filed a case at Kharghar Police Station, accusing him of deception, exploitation, and theft. She said Sikandar manipulated her under the guise of love, physically exploited her for over a year, and abandoned her without support.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added as a religiously motivated hate crime under the category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes, of the tracker. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu, and within this, the tertiary category selected is- Name changed. 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 second sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Forced conversion before marriage. 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. The third sub-category relevant here is- Leaves Hindu partner upon refusal to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces pressure/threats/violence to convert and change her religious identity by the non-Hindu man. However, when the Hindu woman refuses to convert, the non-Hindu man ends the relationship or divorces the woman, as the case might be. 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 pressuring the Hindu woman to change her religious identity and upon her refusal, ends the relationship. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force, or threat after she refuses to convert to Islam, are not considered a part of the hate tracker. Distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the Muslim perpetrator committed the crime while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. The first factor is that the accused pretended to be a Hindu to deceive the Hindu victim. This is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. It severely compromises the woman’s ability to make informed decisions regarding her relationship and religious choices. Further, the religious angle of the crime became more apparent when the Muslim man started pressuring the Hindu woman to convert to Islam, stating he would only remain with her if she complied. When the woman refused to accede to his conversion demands he abandoned her. The details of the case make it evident that the accused singled out a Hindu woman and trapped her by hiding his religious identity. He committed the crime with the specific intention of alienating the victim from her Hindu identity, hence this case has been added to the tracker.
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