Shafique slits his sister's Hindu husband's throat, stabs nine-month pregnant sister to death for converting to Hinduism

Case ID : d1fb6b8 | Location : Thane, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 14 September, 2016

Case ID : d1fb6b8

Thane, Maharashtra, India

14 September, 2016

Shafique slits his sister's Hindu husband's throat, stabs nine-month pregnant sister to death for converting to Hinduism

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Killed by non-Hindu partner's family

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Maharashtra's Thane, a man named Shafique Mansuri was sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court for the 2016 "honour killing" of his pregnant sister, Priya Yadav, who had converted to Hinduism to marry Vijay Shankar. Vijay Shankar, Priya's husband, was also murdered by Mansuri. Employed at a Jari factory in Mumbai, Mansuri was fined Rs. 1,10,000 by the court. Convicted under Section 302 of the IPC for murder, the victims were identified as Vijay Shankar Yadav, 30, and Priya Yadav, 22. Despite eloping from their Uttar Pradesh village to settle in Thane due to opposition from Priya's family, they faced continued opposition. Even after police confirmation of their marital status, Priya's family remained vehemently against their union. On September 15, 2016, neighbours noticed a foul odour emanating from Mansuri's locked room, leading to police intervention. Upon forced entry, the decomposed bodies of the couple, with multiple stab wounds, were discovered. Notably, Priya’s unborn baby girl’s legs protruded from her abdomen due to stab wounds inflicted by Mansuri. Prosecutor Sandhya Mhatre highlighted reliance on circumstantial evidence, including testimony from a neighbour who observed Mansuri’s residency with the couple after Priya mentioned her brother’s visit. Additionally, the murder weapon, a knife, was identified by a shopkeeper who sold it to Mansuri, with the shop’s markings present on the weapon. Bloodstains on Mansuri’s attire and keys were found to match the victims’ blood, further substantiating the case against him.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, two primary factors establish that it was a religiously motivated hate crime. The first component which makes it worthy of being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime is that the family of his Muslim partner killed a Hindu man for being in a relationship with her. In this case, the relationship was consensual and the man and woman were with each other knowing each other’s identity fully well. However, in the Islamic faith, a marriage is deemed illegitimate if the non-Muslim partner does not convert to Islam. For those who practice the faith, when their daughter marries a Hindu man without the man converting to Islam, the difference in religions followed becomes the main point of disapproval for the family of the Muslim woman. Because of the ingrained element of religious supremacy in Islam, the perpetrator family believes that such interfaith relationships diminish the family’s ‘honour’. In this case, also, the inherent animosity for the Hindu religion prompted the family of the Muslim girl to go to the extent of killing the Hindu man, making this case worthy of being documented in the tracker under the sub-category 'Killed by non-Hindu partner's family' within the prime category 'Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu woman. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is forced/pressured to convert his religion and upon his refusal to do so, the family of the non-Hindu partner murders the victim. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu woman and her family start forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert. In some of these cases, the association could be non-consensual as well or, the religious identity of the non-Muslim woman could be previously unknown to the Hindu victim. In such cases, the Hindu man is first forced/pressured to change his religion by the non-Hindu woman’s family. The pressure could involve threats. The trigger to murdering the Hindu man in these cases is his refusal to comply and change his religion under threat and/or force. In other cases that have been documented, it is also seen that the Hindu partner is murdered by the family of the non-Hindu woman simply for his relationship with the non-Hindu woman and by virtue of him following the Hindu faith and not the religion of the non-Hindu woman. In such cases, the relationship is consensual in most cases and the religion of both partners is known to the other. Often, in such cases, there is no direct force/pressure to convert either, however, the murder is a result of the Hindu man being in a relationship with the non-Hindu partner and not following her religion/following Hinduism specifically. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Secondly, the Muslim woman who converted to Hinduism of her free will was also killed by her family as a result of her decision, which is a further sign that the crime was motivated by religion. Her choice to embrace a Hindu identity became the central factor that led to her death, making it evident that the crime was motivated by religious hatred and this is another reason why this case has been added to the Hinduphobia tracker.