Hindu girl deceived, blackmailed, raped and pressured for conversion by Muslim man, who faked Hindu identity

Case ID : d327a1d | Location : Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 13 January, 2020

Case ID : d327a1d

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

13 January, 2020

Hindu girl deceived, blackmailed, raped and pressured for conversion by Muslim man, who faked Hindu identity

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Rape and sexual assault/harassment

Forced conversion before marriage

Blackmailed to convert

Case Summary

In the Mhow area of Indore district in Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu girl was deceived, sexually exploited and pressured for religious conversion by a Muslim man named Javed Akhtar, who pretended to be a Hindu man. According to reports, the victim stated that she came into contact with the accused, Javed Akhtar, in 2020, while attending a karate class in Mhow. During this time, the accused, who was a karate trainer, introduced himself as a Hindu man named Karan Singh. He gradually lured her and gradually built a close relationship with her. Over time, he gained her trust and, on 14 January 2024, came to her residence when she was alone and established physical relations with her on the false promise of marriage. The relationship continued under the same promise. The accused's real identity came to light during a karate belt grading ceremony, where he was addressed as “Javed” while collecting his certificate. When confronted, he admitted that his real name was Javed Akhtar and that he was a Muslim, resident of the Hyderabadi Basti of Mhow. When the victim confronted the accused, he threatened her, claiming that no one could harm him, so she must do as he commanded, or he would destroy her. After this, when the victim attempted to distance herself from the accused, he resorted to intimidation and harassment. He created a fake Instagram account, edited her photographs, and circulated her obscene images and videos to her relatives and acquaintances, thereby damaging her social reputation and causing severe mental distress. She further stated that on 26 February 2026, near a Hanuman Temple situated on Old AB Road in Mhow, he forcibly grabbed her hand in an attempt to take her away. When a bystander, identified as Animesh Chaurasia, intervened, he abused and threatened to kill him. He also threatened to forcibly convert the woman to Islam and keep her with him. Following the incident, the woman informed her family and, accompanied by representatives of local social organisations, approached the police station to file a complaint. Based on her statement, the police registered a case under multiple sections pertaining to rape, cheating, criminal intimidation, and provisions of the Information Technology Act. In a late-night operation on 27 February 2026, the accused was arrested and taken into custody. Authorities initiated a forensic examination of his mobile phone, social media accounts, and other digital evidence. Police officials stated that further investigation would proceed on the basis of collected evidence and due legal process.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. The subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. The tertiary categories selected are- 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. The other subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/or Groomed. The tertiary categories is- 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’ 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. The other sub-category selected here is - Forced conversion before marriage. 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. The other sub-category selected here is - Blackmail 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. This case constituted a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime, as a Hindu girl was deliberately targeted, deceived, sexually exploited and pressured for religious conversion by the Muslim accused faking Hindu identity. The pattern of crime was not incidental or purely interpersonal, but rooted in hostility towards her Hindu background and aimed at subordinating and erasing her faith through force and intimidation. Firstly, the accused deliberately concealed his religious identity to initiate and sustain a relationship with a Hindu girl. This itself is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. By concealing his true identity, he exploited her trust, targeting her under false pretences. This indicates a premeditated intent to manipulate her based on her religious background. In cases like these, the tactic of adopting a false Hindu identity to manipulate and "ensnare" a Hindu individual is not just an act of personal betrayal but can also be interpreted as an expression of disdain or disregard for Hinduism and its customs that reflects a deeper animosity towards Hindus and their beliefs. In such instances, identity concealment was not just a deceptive tactic for personal reasons but a calculated strategy rooted in religious profiling and targeting. The accused knew that the victim, being Hindu, would likely refuse his advances if she knew his real identity, and he circumvented this by lying, which directly pointed to a religiously driven intent. Secondly, after gaining the victim’s trust under a false identity, the accused sexually exploited her under the assurance of marriage and obtained obscene photographs and videos. When his identity was exposed, and she sought to distance herself, he used this material to intimidate and blackmail her. The threats were explicitly accompanied by pressure to convert to Islam, linking the sexual exploitation and digital harassment to a demand for religious change. Often in such cases, sexual violence or blackmail 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 not random violence; it was systematic, targeted, and rooted in religious animosity. Thirdly, coercing a Hindu individual to abandon her faith under threats and intimidation constituted 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 is not simply about personal differences but about erasing the victim’s Hindu faith, making it a religiously motivated crime. Fourth, additionally, the conduct of the accused escalated beyond deception, sexual exploitation, and digital blackmail when he attempted to forcibly take the victim away. By grabbing her hand and trying to drag her away, while simultaneously issuing threats and reiterating pressure for religious conversion, he demonstrated a willingness to use physical force to assert control over her. This attempted abduction further reinforced the coercive pattern already established through identity fraud and blackmail. It showed that the objective was not merely to intimidate her into silence, but to compel submission at all costs, including through violence. The readiness to resort to physical force underscored the extent to which the accused was prepared to go in order to dominate the victim and push her towards abandoning her faith, demonstrating a sustained and targeted effort rather than an isolated or impulsive act. Taken together, the elements of identity concealment, sexual exploitation under false pretences, digital blackmail, threats of violence, and pressure for conversion indicated that the crime was not confined to personal misconduct. 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: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of the incident based on when the crime occurred. The media reports published this case on 28 February 2026. However, the media reports do not specify the exact date of the beginning of the victim’s ordeal. The victim came in contact with the accused in 2020, and on 14 January 2024, the accused sexually exploited her under the false promise of marriage. Considering these two pieces of information, we are using an indicative date of 14 January 2020 as the date of the incident. This date is used for documentation purposes only and represents the estimated beginning of her ordeal.