Hindu woman pressured to convert to Islam and physically assaulted by Muslim men in Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : cb28034 | Location : Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 25 November, 2025

Case ID : cb28034

Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, India

25 November, 2025

Hindu woman pressured to convert to Islam and physically assaulted by Muslim men in Uttar Pradesh

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Case Summary

In Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was pressured to convert to Islam and physically assaulted by a group of Muslim men and their accomplices. According to media reports, the entire incident occurred in the city's Kotwali area. The victim stated that the accused, identified as Altaf, Naushad, and Sahjad, along with several of their associates, first forced her to convert to Islam and then physically abused her. The woman also stated that they had harassed her mentally. She further said that the accused then extorted money from her to suppress the case and force a settlement, leaving her mentally broken. Following this, the police registered a case against 12 Muslim accused based on the victim's complaint. Two accused were arrested during the investigation, but the failure to arrest the remaining suspects had angered the victim and Hindu organisations. The Hindu organisations carried out protests and stated that it would continue until all the accused were arrested and strict action was taken against them. Protesters raised slogans outside the District Magistrate's office, accusing the police administration of slow action. A Hindu activist, Alok Shastri, said that the victim had been waiting for justice for a long time, but action was not being taken at the expected pace. He stated that a protest would be held and a memorandum would be submitted to the District Magistrate. The memorandum would demand the immediate arrest of all accused, the safety of the victim, and a speedy and impartial investigation of the case. Protesters warned that if the administration did not take immediate action, the movement would be expanded. Meanwhile, the police said that given the seriousness of the case, the investigation was being carried out expeditiously and all the accused would be arrested soon.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory 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. Such cases, where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion, are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. This case clearly exemplifies a religiously motivated hate crime due to the targeted pressure and harassment exerted on the Hindu woman by the Muslim perpetrators to convert to Islam. The coercion to change one's religion against personal conviction is a fundamental violation of religious freedom, reflecting deep religious animosity towards the victim's Hindu identity. Forced conversion, as seen here, is not merely a personal affront but an act intended to strip the individual of her religious faith and impose another faith, in this case, Islam, highlighting the attackers' deliberate hostility based on religion. Such acts are classic examples of hate crimes because they target the victim's religious identity and seek to suppress it through intimidation and force. Moreover, the physical assault on the victim further underscores the religiously motivated nature of this hate crime. The use of violence as a method to compel conversion showcases the perpetrators' intent to intimidate the victim into abandoning her faith. Physical abuse in this context is a clear tactic of religious hatred, designed to inflict harm and instil fear, making it a religiously motivated offence. Additionally, the extortion of money to suppress the case and coerce a settlement reveals an added layer of victimisation. This extortion reflects how the victim was targeted for resisting the forced conversion, amplifying the severity and maliciousness of the crime. Taken together, these actions represent an unequivocal instance of anti-Hindu hate crime, meeting the criteria for inclusion in the Hate Crime Database of the Hinduphobia Tracker, given the targeted religious animus and violent coercion involved. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when the crime actually occurs rather than when it is reported by the media. However, in this particular case, the media reports have not specified the exact date on which the crime took place. Therefore, for the purpose of documenting this crime, the date when the media reported it, which is 26th November 2025, is being used as an indicative date of the incident. This is solely for documentation purposes to estimate the beginning of the victim's suffering and does not imply the exact timing of the occurrence.