Hindu woman faces death and rape threats from Muslim community after leaving Islam: Called 'kafir' and pressured to perform Halala

Case ID : d06cb0f | Location : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 30 June, 2024

Case ID : d06cb0f

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

30 June, 2024

Hindu woman faces death and rape threats from Muslim community after leaving Islam: Called 'kafir' and pressured to perform Halala

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Mumbai, Maharashtra, a Hindu woman named Radhika Yadav, formerly known as Zahida Ansari, was harassed, assaulted, and given death and rape threats by Muslims men for reverting to Hinduism. The woman had reverted on her own volition. Radhika Yadav, formerly known as Zahida Ansari, is a Muslim-born woman who reverted to Hinduism after marrying a Hindu man against her family's wishes. Following this, she was subjected to severe ostracisation and abuse by members of the Muslim community, including her own Muslim family members. Radhika talked about her ordeal in an interview to Hindustan Post that she was barred from seeing her dying mother in the hospital, as she was considered a 'kafir' for having changed her religion. Her family and Muslim community members told her that her presence would send her mother to dozakh (hell), and she wasn't even allowed to participate in the funeral of her mother. She was continuously called 'kafir' by Shakil Sheikh, her brother in law, and Sadiq sheikh physically assaulted her multiple times. Furthermore, her minor daughter was also given rape threats by Shakil Sheikh's younger son. Radhika stated that she was approached by some Muslims who said they would only accept her back if she underwent halala, having sexual relations with a Muslim man. She refused, calling it a humiliation to womanhood. Since then, she has faced continuous threats and harassment and even a fatwa was issued against her. She was also denied property rights in order to financially exploit her. She is fighting for her rightful share in her mother’s property, but is receiving no support. Radhika has received death threats not just for herself but also for her three children, and even her house was attacked. Radhika also approached the police, but it was of no help as they continuously pressured her to compromise. Her grievance was only recorded as a non-cognizable complaint, and no further action was taken. She also stated that CCTV cameras outside her home were stolen, garbage was being thrown outside her house, and Muslim men were deliberately tying goats outside her house, drinking and smoking, etc, all as an attempt to harass her. Radhika has appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to intervene and ensure justice and protection for her and her children.

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. 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. The third primary category selected here is: - Hate speech against Hindus. Within it, the sub-category selected i: - Anti-Hindu slurs and mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. This case has been added to the tracker because of the consistent and targeted harassment a Hindu woman faced from her Muslim family and community members simply for reverting to Hinduism and marrying a Hindu man. She was harassed and attacked not for any act of provocation but purely because she left Islam and reverted to Hinduism. Notably, her decision to leave Islam, revert to Hinduism and marry a Hindu man was purely out of her own free will; she was not pressured into doing so. This angered her Muslim family and community members, who responded with physical assaults, rape and death threats, barred from participating in funeral of her mother, and denied her property rights. She was even told she could only be ‘accepted’ again if she went through halala—a degrading and abusive ritual meant to strip away her dignity and force her back into religious submission. Her persecution was rooted not in personal grievance but in religious animosity towards Hinduism, combined with the mindset of supremacist control. The pressure to perform halala and the rape threats to her minor daughter was a tool for psychological manipulation to bring her back to the Islamic fold. Furthermore, she was also called a “kafir” in an attempt to dehumanise her. Kafir, in context of Islam, essentially means non-believers. The word kafir has historically been used to justify violence against non-believers through a religious sanction. In this context, calling her kafir was a way to make a statement for the larger Muslim community that if they decide to leave Islam, they would also be met with social exclusion, harassment or even violence. This pattern has been witnessed time and time again, where, when someone from Islam embraces another religion, especially Hinduism, they are met with hostility and violence from fellow Muslims. This attack on Radhika Yadav reflects deep-rooted animosity towards Hindus and acts as a veiled threat to anyone who dares to leave Islam. It stems from a supremacist mindset that sees apostasy, especially towards Hinduism, not just as betrayal, but as a challenge to Islamic dominance that must be crushed through fear and punishment. Cases like these are textbook examples of hate crimes, driven purely by religious hostility, and therefore warrant inclusion in the Hinduphobia tracker to document, expose, and counter such targeted bigotry. Disclaimer: The victim states that her ordeal started after she reverted to Hinduism a year ago in July. Thus, to document this case, we have used an indicative date—July 1, 2024—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged on June 12, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.