Muslim youth pretends to be Hindu, strangulates Hindu live-in partner to death for refusal to convert to Islam
Kaushambi District, Uttar Pradesh, India 
13 February, 2023
Case Summary
In Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Arif pretended to be a Hindu, Guddu Rajput, to befriend Chanda, a 35-year-old widow. The couple started living together but Arif brutally murdered her because she refused to convert to Islam. Police said that when they went to arrest Arif, he fired at them. Police retaliated, and Arif was injured in the leg during cross-fire. Arif, a resident of UP’s Kaushambi district worked as an ambulance driver while the deceased Chanda Singh, was a Mau resident from Uttar Pradesh who lost her first husband Durgesh Singh five years ago. The two met on social media after her husband died and she fell into his love trap. Arif summoned the woman to Ballia under the guise of employment. He persuaded Chanda to sell her home in her hometown and move in with him. According to Chanda's daughter, Arif and her mother would often argue about money. She further said that Arif had been pressuring her to convert to Islam and do Namaz at home ever since his religion was made public before Chanda. When Chanda refused to comply with Arif's demands, he would beat her viciously. The accused later gathered people from his community and a Maulvi to exert pressure to convert. On refusal, she was ultimately killed. A case has been lodged against Arif under relevant provisions of the IPC and the state’s anti-conversion law.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
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. What gives this case a distinct religious angle is that the Muslim perpetrator actively hid his religion and pretended to be a Hindu to ensnare the Hindu woman. He exploited her, forced to her adopt Islam and follow Islam rituals. He then killed her when she refused to accede to his demands. Since the religious motive of the crime is evident from these facts, this case has been documented as a hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
