Hindu Woman harassed and pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim man in Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Case ID : d326f11 | Location : Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 6 January, 2026

Case ID : d326f11

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

6 January, 2026

Hindu Woman harassed and pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim man in Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu woman was lured, induced and harassed for religious conversion by a Muslim man named Mohammad Abdul Salam. According to reports, the victim worked at a teleperformance company where the accused, Mohammad Abdul Salam, a resident of Habib Colony, held the position of Assistant Manager (MO). The accused persistently pressured the Hindu woman to develop a personal relationship with him and repeatedly urged her to abandon Hinduism and convert to Islam. The harassment continued despite the victim's clear resistance and discomfort, eventually forcing her to resign from her job. Even while she was serving a two-month notice period, the accused continued to target her at the workplace. Furthermore, he attempted to lure her through incentives, claiming that he would take care of all arrangements and that the Muslim religion would provide her with every facility if she converted to Islam. On 7 January 2026, he grabbed her hand and again pressed her to leave her faith and accept Islam. Fed up with the ordeal, the victim filed a complaint at the Lasudia police station, following which the police registered a case against Mohammad Abdul Salam under relevant sections of law.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - 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 other sub-category selected is - Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu woman was lured, induced and harassed for religious conversion by the Muslim accused, Mohammad Abdul Salam. The accused persistently pressured and harassed the victim for conversion, repeatedly urging her to abandon Hinduism and convert to Islam. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard her religious faith and embrace another was 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. Often in such cases, harassment 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 random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Furthermore, the accused also attempted to induce the victim to convert by claiming that the Muslim religion would provide her with every facility. Offering incentives or making false promises, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements in exchange for conversion, the accused was effectively blackmailing the victim, who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. This form of coercion strips people of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. 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 till they convert. Such acts were not merely personal crimes; they were rooted in a desire to dominate and erase the religious identity of the victim. 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: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest date mentioned is 7 January 2026, when the accused grabbed her hand and harassed her. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, we have considered the date of the incident as 7 January 2026, though the media reported the incident on 8 January 2026.