Hindu woman deceived, exploited and pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim man pretending to be Hindu
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India 
24 December, 2020
Case Summary
A Hindu woman faced deception, sexual exploitation, and coercion to change her religion by a Muslim man, Shaukeen Mohammad, in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The accused pretended to be Hindu to deceive the victim. The woman was a young resident of Udaipur whose parents were divorced and who lived at her maternal grandparents’ home. In 2020, while studying in Salumber, she became friends with Wasim Khan on Instagram. Wasim Khan lived in Khanjipir, and they communicated on the phone. He later shared her contact number with a friend. Shortly afterwards, the woman received a call from an unknown number. The man introduced himself as Shivam and began contacting her daily and arranging regular meetings. He took her to temples for walks and showed her an Aadhaar card in the name of Shivam Meena, which raised her suspicion. In 2022, the woman rented a room and moved to Balicha, Govardhan Vilas. She and Shivam began living together in that room and engaged in sexual relations multiple times. During this period, Shivam obtained a certificate of live-in relationship. Later, when the woman visited Shivam’s home, she discovered that he was Muslim. He revealed his true identity as Shaukeen Mohammad and pressured her to convert to Islam and marry him. The woman ended the relationship, but he continued to stalk and harass her, threatening to circulate objectionable photographs. Following these events, the woman filed a complaint with Udaipur’s Savina police station. Based on the complaint, the police arrested Shaukeen Mohammad for deceiving her by using a false identity, establishing physical relations, and pressuring her to convert after revealing his true identity. He had also obtained an Aadhaar card under a fake name. Savina Police Station in-charge Ajayraj Singh registered the case and initiated an investigation. Shaukeen Mohammad, a resident of Barakat Colony under Big Mosque, Mallatalai Farooq Azam Colony, was produced in court and remanded to three days’ police custody.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case had been documented under the selected primary category: Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within this, the sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. Under this, the selected tertiary category is: Name changed. 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 hate crimes. 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 malicious 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: Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu women are in a relationship with non-Hindu men, there are cases where the woman is blackmailed to convert to another religion, owing to her religious identity as 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. The other selected secondary category is: Brainwashed and/or groomed. Under this, the selected tertiary categories are: Victim says she was brainwashed/groomed, Rape and sexual assault/harassment. 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’ 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 are crimes, for 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. Another selected secondary category is: Assault or threats 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 pressurizing 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. This case constituted a religiously motivated hate crime based on the following arguments. Firstly, the offence targeted the victim’s Hindu identity from the very beginning. The accused deliberately assumed a Hindu name and identity to gain her trust. This was not incidental deception but a conscious choice to mirror her religion in order to access her personally and emotionally. The crime, therefore, began with the exploitation of her Hindu identity. Secondly, religion was actively used as a tool of manipulation. The accused reinforced the false Hindu identity through repeated conduct, including visits to temples. These actions relied on shared religious spaces and symbols to deepen trust. The use of Hindu religious settings to sustain deception demonstrated that the victim’s faith was central to the strategy employed against her. Thirdly, the harm escalated when the deception transitioned into coercion. After revealing his true religious identity, the accused pressured the woman to convert to Islam and marry him. The demand for conversion directly targeted her Hindu faith and sought to erase it. The pressure arose specifically because she was Hindu and refused to change her religion. Fourthly, the woman’s refusal to abandon her faith triggered continued harassment and intimidation. The blackmail and threats to make objectionable photographs viral followed her decision to end the relationship and remain Hindu. This showed that the harassment functioned as retaliation for asserting her religious autonomy. Fifthly, the crime interfered with the victim’s fundamental right to religious freedom. The deception deprived her of informed choice, while the subsequent threats sought to force submission through fear. The offence therefore attacked not only her personal dignity but also her right to practise and retain her religion without coercion. Finally, when viewed as a whole, the sequence of conduct showed intent and religious targeting. The impersonation of a Hindu identity, sustained religious deception, pressure to convert, and punishment after refusal formed a continuous pattern in which the victim’s Hindu identity was central at every stage. Taken together, the facts established that the offence was driven by hostility towards the victim’s religion and an attempt to forcibly alter it. For these reasons, the case constituted a religiously motivated hate crime against a Hindu woman. It is thus added to the tracker. Disclaimer: Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident date based on when the crime began, not when it was reported. In this case, reports state that the victim became friends with Wasim Khan in 2020, but do not provide an exact date. Since the ordeal is said to have started after their first meeting, we have taken 2020 as the incident year. For documentation purposes, and in the absence of a specific date, we have used 25 December, the reporting date, as the reference day. Accordingly, 25 December 2020 has been selected as the indicative incident date. Also, we have mentioned the number of perpetrators as two, including the woman's online friend, Wasim Khan, who gave the number to Shaukeen Mohammad without her consent or knowledge.
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 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
