Hindu man pressured, harassed and assaulted for religious conversion by his Muslim wife and her family members; minor son pressured for circumcision
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
5 December, 2023
Case Summary
In the Maswanpur city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu man named Vineet Kumar was pressured, harassed and assaulted for religious conversion by his Muslim wife and her family members. Furthermore, his minor child was also pressured for circumcision. The victim, Vineet Kumar, a resident of Maswanpur under the Rawatpur police station area, married a Muslim girl named Sania on 6 November 2023. Before the marriage, they got into a mutual understanding that neither would compel the other to change their religion. However, after the marriage, Sania was influenced by her parents, after which she repeatedly pressured her husband Vineet to convert to Islam. When Vineet resisted, Sania got into frequent quarrels with him and verbally abused him. The situation escalated further after the birth of their son on 26 August 2025, when Vineet’s father-in-law and mother-in-law insisted that the child be circumcised. Upon refusal, Vineet was beaten, threatened with false legal cases, and subjected to continued intimidation aimed at converting him to Islam. On the night of 16 January 2026, Sania left the matrimonial home, forcibly taking ₹5,000 in cash, gold jewellery, including a ring, anklets and a chain, along with valuable clothing, and returned to her parental home. Subsequently, Vineet filed a complaint with the police stating that he was repeatedly threatened with imprisonment if he did not convert to Islam. Based on the complaint, a police case was registered against Sania and her parents. Kalyanpur ACP Ashutosh Kumar summoned both parties, and an investigation was initiated.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. The subcategory selected is- Forced to convert after marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu woman marries a Hindu man and the force/pressure against the Hindu man to convert to Islam begins after marriage. In such cases, the marriage is consensual in most cases and often, there is no element of the non-Hindu woman hiding her religious identity. The marriage could be under the Special Marriages Act where neither parties are required to convert their religion for the marriage to be considered legitimate. While the victim in such cases enters matrimony assuming that religious identity is not a barrier, the non-Hindu woman starts to pressure the Hindu man to convert to Islam after marriage. In such cases, there is application of force/pressure by the perpetrator, including, denial of the man’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the man is forced/pressured to convert include forcing/pressurizing the man to involuntarily consume beef, pressurizing/forcing to read the Kalma, forced circumcision, forced to go to the mosque, etc. There are several instances where after marriage, the man voluntarily converts to Islam. Such cases are often argued to be a result of religious brainwashing, however, for the purpose of documenting religiously motivated hate crimes, in the absence of the victim complaining of forced conversion, such cases do not form a part of the database. The other sub-category selected here is - Threatened to convert by family of partner. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man faces threats to convert and change his religious identity by the non-Hindu woman or her family. 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 or her family starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert to Islam and also assaults the victim to force him to convert. 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 man 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 man was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. The other subcategory selected is- Attacked by non-Hindu partner or/and her family. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is forced to convert his religion and upon his refusal to do so, the partner or/and her family attacks 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 or her family starts 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-Hindu woman could be previously unknown to the Hindu victim. In such cases, the Hindu man is first forced/pressurized to change his religion by the non-Hindu woman or her family. The force/pressure could involve threats. The trigger for directing violence against the Hindu man is in these cases 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 assaulted by the non-Hindu woman or her family 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 attack 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. The other sub-category selected here is - Assaulted for refusal to convert. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the Hindu man faces assault after he refuses to convert and change his religious identity owing to pressure/force by the non-Hindu woman or her family. 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 or her family starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert to Islam and upon his refusal, assaults 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 man 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 man was brainwashed or threatened to convert to Islam. The second primary category selected here is - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected here 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 here is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - Conversion of minor. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The third primary category selected here is - 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 other sub-category selected here is - Attacked for refusal to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, the victim refuses to succumb to the pressure/threats. Once the victim refuses, the perpetrator proceeds to attack/assault the victim owing to his/her refusal to convert. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The violence then is another hate crime driven by the victim’s refusal to abandon his professed faith, Hinduism, and convert to the religion of a non-Hindu perpetrator. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing violence towards the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case represented a clear instance of a hate crime because the Hindu man was pressured, harassed and assaulted for religious conversion by his Muslim wife and her family members.Vineet Kumar, a Hindu resident of Maswanpur in Kanpur, was subjected to sustained coercion, harassment, and physical abuse by his Muslim wife and her parents with the explicit aim of forcing him to abandon his Hindu faith and convert to Islam. What began as an interfaith marriage, entered into on the explicit assurance that there would be no conversion after marriage, later revealed a deliberate attempt to erode and subvert Vineet’s Hindu identity. The post-marriage pressure to convert demonstrated that the assurance of religious coexistence was merely a façade, and that the relationship was later weaponised to impose religious domination over the Hindu spouse. After the marriage on 6 November 2023, Vineet was repeatedly pressured by his wife, Sania and her parents to convert to Islam. Pressuring a Hindu individual to discard his religious faith and embrace another is a direct attack on his 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. This abuse and violence was carried out not out of a personal quarrel but as direct punishment for refusing to renounce his Hindu faith. By attacking him for resisting conversion, the perpetrators demonstrated their animosity towards his continued adherence to his faith. This was an overt act of religiously motivated violence, where refusal to submit to Islam was answered with abuse and violence. His refusal to convert became the central trigger for abuse, making his religious identity the sole basis of targeting. The religious persecution intensified after the birth of their son on 26 August 2025. Vineet’s in-laws insisted that the minor child be circumcised, thereby extending the conversion pressure beyond Vineet himself and onto the minor child. Since the child was a minor, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion, and the Muslim perpetrator purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Sania's parents insisted that the minor child be circumcised, essentially altering his religious identity and converting him to Islam. The forced circumcision is another deeply disturbing element that underlines the religious animosity of the act. Circumcision is irreversible. For a Hindu boy, it is not a cultural or religious practice and carrying it out without his consent is a direct attack on his religious identity. By doing so, the perpetrators ensured that the child bears the lifelong physical and symbolic marker of forced Islamic conversion. This was not only an assault on his bodily autonomy but also on his Hindu faith, demonstrating a targeted act of hatred against his religion, Hinduism. Furthermore, when Vineet refused to allow this irreversible religious imposition on his child, he was beaten and threatened with false legal cases. The violence and threats functioned as punitive measures for resisting both his own conversion and the religious alteration of his son, demonstrating that the objective was not familial harmony but the enforced submission of a Hindu family into Islam. Subsequently, Sania left the matrimonial home, forcibly taking cash, gold jewellery, and valuable belongings. The victim later reported that he was repeatedly threatened with imprisonment if he did not agree to convert to Islam. Such threats underscored the extent to which coercion was employed as a tool to break his resistance and compel religious abandonment through fear and legal harassment. 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 6 November 2023, when the couple got married. 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 6 November 2023, though the media reported the incident on 31 January 2026.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 2
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 2
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
