Hindu woman subjected to sexual violence, sustained physical abuse and forced religious conversion her Muslim husband

Case ID : cb2828a | Location : Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 14 December, 2025

Case ID : cb2828a

Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India

14 December, 2025

Hindu woman subjected to sexual violence, sustained physical abuse and forced religious conversion her Muslim husband

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Rape and sexual assault/harassment

Victim says she was brainwashed/groomed

Forced conversion after marriage

Case Summary

In Rae Bareli district, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman named Neha Sahu was subjected to deception, sexual violence, sustained physical abuse and forced religious conversion by her Muslim husband and his relatives. According to the complaint filed by the victim, Neha Sahu, she was deceived into marriage by her Muslim husband named Samir Ghoshi. Samir repeatedly raped her and blackmailed her into marrying him. After marriage, the accused misled her and forcibly converted her to Islam. Thereafter, Samir Ghoshi and his family members, Moharram Ali and Wasim, subjected her to constant verbal abuse and physical violence. The victim stated that she was repeatedly assaulted, confined to a room for days, and subjected to severe mental and physical torture. On one occasion, the accused attempted to strangle her to death, and she was thrown out of the house. During her pregnancy, she was beaten so brutally that she suffered a miscarriage. The victim stated that her life was in danger and decided to approach the police. On the basis of her complaint, the Salon police registered an FIR against Samir Ghoshi, Moharram Ali and Wasim. As of the date of writing this report, the investigation was ongoing.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Brainwashed and/or groomed. The tertiary category selected is - Rape and sexual assault/harassment and Victim says she was brainwashed/groomed. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The other sub-category selected is - Forced conversion after marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu man marries a Hindu woman, and the force/pressure to convert to any Abrahamic faith, like Islam, begins after marriage. In such cases, typically, two patterns emerge. First, when the relationship is consensual, and the religious identity of the perpetrator is known to the Hindu woman in the relationship. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act, where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu man starts to pressure the woman to convert her religion after marriage. The second is when the woman gets into a marriage with the man, pretending to share her faith. Later, when the truth is revealed, the man starts pressuring the woman to convert her religion and give up her religious identity. In both situations, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including the denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, being forced to read the Kalma, being forced to wear a hijab, forced to undergo Halala, etc. There are several instances where, after marriage, the woman voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing, however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman named Neha Sahu was subjected to deception, sexual violence, and forced religious conversion by her husband and his relatives. Firstly, Samir Ghoshi repeatedly raped her and blackmailed the victim into marrying him. These exploitations were not random acts of crime; rather, they functioned as religiously motivated tools aimed at humiliating and dominating a Hindu woman because of her faith. The target was not the victim as an individual, but her Hindu identity, as the accused later pressured her for conversion. The specific focus on her Hindu identity in the commission of these acts highlights the religious hatred underlying the crime, making it a religiously motivated offence. Secondly, although the Muslim accused did not conceal his identity, the nature of the relationship suggested that the Hindu woman was initially led to believe that her faith would not be a barrier to their relationship post marriage. Trusting the accused’s assurances, she married him. However, immediately after marriage, the accused pressured her to convert to Islam. While the victim was an adult, the psychological grooming and deception involved, combined with the deliberate targeting of a Hindu woman and religious conversion, indicate a clear religious motive. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her religious faith and embrace another is a direct attack on her religious identity and dignity. It was not a matter of personal choice; it was coercion rooted in hostility towards the victim's Hindu identity. Such an attempt reflects religious animosity because the act was not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Thirdly, the victim was subjected to rape and physical violence by the accused. This act goes beyond mere criminal behaviour; it is a calculated and malicious attack on her religious identity. Often in such cases, sexual or physical violence serves a dual purpose: physical subjugation and religious humiliation. The intention was to break the victim down, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, so that she could be converted. This was not random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. The severity of the torture to the victim further indicates that the accused was never interested in a genuine relationship with a Hindu woman; his only goal was sexual exploitation and religious conversion. Such actions stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised until they convert. Since such predatory actions stem from doctrinal animosity towards the Hindu faith and its adherents, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began or when she came into contact with the accused. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 14 December 2025.