Hindu woman assaulted and given death threats by Muslim lawyers over religious conversion

Case ID : c72ab1f | Location : Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 2 June, 2025

Case ID : c72ab1f

Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, India

2 June, 2025

Hindu woman assaulted and given death threats by Muslim lawyers over religious conversion

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman advocate named Ishrat Jahan, who had converted to Hinduism, was physically assaulted in her chamber by a group of Muslim lawyers. The attack occurred when advocate Ishrat Jahan alias Ishu was in her chamber. A group of Muslim advocates — Shaba Chaudhary, Suraiya, Shaheen, Sania, Rukhsar, Rukhsar, Gulbari, and Arif — entered her chamber, physically assaulted her and issued death threats. During the attack, Ishrat’s mangalsutra and earrings broke and fell off. The attack occurred because Ishrat Jahan, who was a Muslim, married a Hindu man named Shubham Kumar. After her marriage, she converted to Hinduism on her own volition. Ishrat Jahan stated that the group of Muslim advocates has been pressuring her to end her marriage with Shubham Kumar and marry a Muslim man instead. It was also stated that she was facing this pressure and hostility since her conversion to Hinduism, post-marriage. Ishrat has also expressed fear for her life, stating that she is under threat from these lawyers. As of the date of writing this report, a complaint was registered by the police against eight advocates, and the investigation was ongoing.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second primary category selected here is: - Predatory proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman named Ishrat Jahan, who converted to Hinduism after marriage, was attacked by a group of Muslim lawyers. She was targeted because, despite being born a Muslim, she chose to marry a Hindu man and convert to Hinduism out of her own free will. This angered the Muslim advocates, who not only physically assaulted her but also issued death threats and created an atmosphere of hostility around her. Their actions were rooted in religious animosity towards Hinduism and were intended to coerce her into abandoning her marriage and converting back to Islam. It is important to recognise that Ishrat Jahan is an adult who is free to make her own life choices, including her religion and partner. Her conversion to Hinduism and marriage were done of her own free will. But instead of respecting her decision, Muslim lawyers violently attacked her and pressured her to return to Islam, completely disregarding her autonomy and life choices. This pattern has been witnessed time and time again, where, when someone from Islam converts to another religion, especially Hinduism, they are met with hostility and violence from fellow Muslims, who refuse to accept their decision to convert. This attack was not just about bringing Ishrat Jahan back to Islam, but it was also a statement to fellow Muslims if they dared convert to Hinduism. It was an attempt to warn others that any form of apostasy in Islam would be met with violent consequences. Thus, Ishrat Jahan was attacked just for converting to Hinduism, which is why this case has been added to the tracker.