Hindu woman trapped by Muslim man faking as Hindu; forced to remove her 'OM' tattoo, convert and perform nikah, threatened with acid attack for resisiting
Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, India 
12 January, 2026
Case Summary
A Hindu woman faced deception, forced religious conversion, nikah, and sustained abuse by a Muslim man, Mohammad Ashi, son of Salim, in the Safipur area of Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh. The Hindu woman was a divorcee whose first marriage ended within five months due to domestic violence and alcohol abuse. She had a six-year-old daughter from her first marriage. She was contacted by Mohammad Ashi through a phone call, during which he used Hindu names, including Ashish Dixit/Ajay Dixit, while concealing his real name and religious identity. The woman entered into a relationship on the assurance of marriage and later began living with him in rented accommodation in areas including Safipur and Pikhli Road, without the consent of her family. The deception came to light when the woman saw him offering Namaz, after which she discovered that his real name was Mohammad Ashi and that he was a Muslim. Following this, she was taken to his family home, where pressure was exerted on her to convert to Islam. She was subjected to physical violence during this period. The victim was taken to a mosque, where a Maulvi conducted a nikah after her religious conversion. She was threatened with death and warned that her family would be killed if she approached the police. The victim had an Om symbol tattooed on her hand. She was pressured to alter the Om symbol into a star tattoo. Objections were raised to her visible Hindu religious identity. She also wore an Om locket, which Mohammad Ashi’s mother attempted to forcibly remove. She was threatened with acid attack and physical violence if she resisted. She was compelled to abandon Hindu practices and was forced to offer Namaz, observe Islamic rituals and follow religious practices imposed upon her. The victim was subjected to repeated physical assaults, including incidents in Kanpur. Her jewellery was pawned, and loans amounting to eighty-five thousand rupees were taken in her name. An additional loan of seventy-five thousand rupees was taken using her relative's identity. The money was used to construct a house or plot valued at approximately one lakh twenty thousand rupees. After the nikah, Mohammad Ashi married another woman and abandoned the Hindu woman. Her family refused to take her back unless justice was pursued. She lived alone in rented accommodation. The Hindu woman submitted a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Unnao, seeking action in the matter.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been documented under the selected primary category: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the selected secondary category is: Forced conversion before marriage. Under this, the selected tertiary category is: Forced to do Nikah, Forced to follow non-Hindu religious practices. In such cases, a non-Hindu man is in a relationship with a Hindu woman when the pressure to convert her religion begins to manifest. 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, however, at some point during the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts to force the victim to convert her religion and give up her Hindu religious identity. 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 the situations, the methods used to force the victim to convert her religion often revolve around force-feeding beef, forcing her to wear hijab, forcing her to read the Kalma or even pressurizing the victim to do ‘Nikah’, which is marriage under Islamic law, with a prerequisite being conversion to Islam. Cases where a Hindu woman consensually converts to Islam in a relationship will be left out of the hate crime database, even though it could be argued in several cases that the conversion was a result of religious brainwashing. Another selected secondary category is: Brainwashed and or groomed. Under this, the selected tertiary category is: 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. Another selected secondary category is: Man pretends to be Hindu. Under this, the selected tertiary category is: Name changed. When a non-Hindu man pretends to be a Hindu to deceive a Hindu woman into a relationship, the act is seen as triggered by malafide intentions. In some cases, the woman eventually accepts the man’s original religious identity and converts after the man’s identity is revealed. These cases could be argued as cases of religious brainwashing and a result of the pressure a woman feels after getting into a relationship with a man. The woman, it can be argued, also changed her religious identity because of the stigma she believes she might face if she chooses to walk out of a deceptive relationship. However, for the purpose of documenting hate crimes, the cases in this subcategory are limited to those where there is explicit violence aimed at religious conversion against the wishes of the victim (force-feeding beef, blackmailing with intimate videos, rape on refusal to convert, etc), or if the woman herself complains of the man’s religious deception. In such cases, it is established that the deception of the non-Hindu man had a specific aim of religious conversion or targeting of the victim due to her Hindu religious identity, therefore, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. Another selected secondary category is: Desecration of Hindu religious symbols in relationships. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces insult and desecration of her faith (Hinduism) and its symbol because of the inherent disregard for polytheism of the non-Hindu partner. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts desecrating the religious symbols of the Hindu partner out of spite for her faith. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Another selected secondary category is: Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert her religion, owing to her religious identity of being a Hindu. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim, however, there could be cases where the relationship is not consensual and the non-Hindu man starts blackmailing a Hindu woman to convert her religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu woman is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to her or her family, threats of violence etc. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Another selected secondary category is: Assault or threat upon refusal to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman faces threats or assault after she refuses to convert and change her religious identity owing to pressure/force by the non-Hindu man. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu man known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu man starts pressurising the Hindu woman to convert to Islam, and upon her refusal, assaults or threatens the victim. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. Cases where the Hindu woman converts to Islam and does not file a complaint about the force or threat, are not considered a part of the hate tracker, even though it may be argued that the woman was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. It has multiple religious markers that, taken together, indicate targeted coercion aimed at erasing a Hindu woman's identity and imposing an Islamic identity through deception, forced conversion, and intimidation. Deception about religious identity: The use of Hindu names such as Ashish Dixit or Ajay Dixit while concealing the name Mohammad Ashi and his Muslim identity is a religious marker because it shows the relationship was initiated through misrepresentation, specifically tied to religion. This is not a neutral alias. It is a tactic that bypasses informed consent by hiding religious identity until emotional dependence is created. Discovery through Namaz: The point at which the deception is exposed is itself a marker. When a victim learns the truth only after seeing Islamic prayer practices, it reinforces that religion was deliberately concealed and then revealed only after attachment and cohabitation, a pattern consistent with coercive grooming. Pressure to convert to Islam: Conversion pressure inside the perpetrator’s family home indicates communal reinforcement, not an individual relationship dispute. Forced conversion is a direct assault on religious autonomy, treating the victim’s Hindu identity as an obstacle to be removed. Mosque and Maulvi facilitated nikah after conversion: Taking her to a mosque and arranging nikah through a Maulvi after conversion is a marker of institutionalising the coercion. It formalises the imposed religious identity and binds the victim into a religious framework that she did not freely choose, making exit socially and psychologically harder. Death threats and threats to harm her family: Threats to kill her and her family if she goes to the police are a strong marker of coercive captivity. In this context, intimidation is used to enforce compliance with the conversion and nikah, and to cut off external help, which amplifies the religious coercion. Targeting the Om symbol tattoo: Pressuring her to alter an Om tattoo into a star is direct evidence of hostility toward visible Hindu identity. It is not just controlling behaviour; it is a demand to erase a Hindu sacred symbol from her body and replace it with a different religious signifier, signalling forced identity replacement. Attempt to remove Om locket: Trying to forcibly remove her Om locket shows a second, independent effort to strip Hindu religious markers. This indicates the victim’s Hindu identity was not tolerated and had to be physically removed to make her acceptable in the imposed setting. Coercion into Islamic rituals: Forcing her to offer Namaz and follow Islamic practices is a marker of compelled religious conformity. It reflects an intent to reshape daily life, beliefs, and identity, not merely control within a relationship. Violence tied to resistance against religious erasure: The pattern of physical assaults and threats like acid attack linked to her resistance against religious demands, points to enforcement of conversion and conformity through fear, which is characteristic of religiously motivated coercion. Financial exploitation alongside religious captivity: Pawning jewellery and taking loans in her name, and even using a relative’s identity, show exploitation and entrapment. While financial crimes alone are not hate crime markers, in combination with forced conversion, threats, and identity erasure, they function as tools to deepen dependency and prevent escape. Abandonment after nikah and remarriage: Marrying another woman and abandoning the victim after securing conversion and nikah underscores instrumentalisation. The sequence indicates that the victim’s consent and well-being were not the objective, while the imposed religious control and subsequent exploitation left her isolated. Taken together, the deliberate concealment of Muslim identity, forced conversion, mosque-based nikah, compelled Islamic practice, removal and alteration of Hindu symbols like Om, and threats of murder and acid attack establish a clear pattern of religiously motivated coercion and Hindu identity erasure. These markers support hate crime classification because the victim’s Hindu identity is repeatedly targeted for elimination, replaced with an imposed religious identity, and enforced through violence, intimidation, and captivity. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker documented cases on the basis of when the incident occurred, not when it was reported by the media. In this case, the exact date of the incident was not specified in the available reports. Accordingly, the date of media reporting, 13 January 2026, was used as the indicative date of the incident. The name used to deceive the woman is mentioned as Ashish Dixit in some reports and Ajay Dixit in others. Thus, both are mentioned for accuracy. The number of perpetrators was recorded as two, taking into account the involvement of both the Muslim man and his mother.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
