Case Summary

In Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman, named Meenu, was deceived into marriage and pressured for religious conversion by a Muslim man, pretending to be Hindu. She was forced to wear a burqa, given death threats and was subjected to years of sexual and mental exploitation by the accused and his family. A Muslim man named Nadeem established a romantic relationship with the Hindu woman about 14 years ago by pretending to be a Hindu man named Rohit. Over time, their relationship grew, and the accused manipulated the Hindu woman into eloping and marrying him without informing her family. After marriage, she discovered that her husband was not Hindu, but a Muslim man named Nadeem, son of Mohammad Fazil, a resident of Diggi Mohalla in Meerut. After his true identity was revealed, Nadeem started pressuring her to convert to Islam and also physically assaulted her. She was forced to wear a burqa and was prohibited from leaving the house. Furthermore, she was denied any contact with her family. She was mentally and physically abused by the accused and his family members. The exploitation escalated further when she was forced into prostitution by Nadeem’s family, who told her in Hindi, which roughly translates to, "Sell your body or do whatever you have to, just bring us money, this is why we married you through court." Meenu was compelled to bear four children against her will, and all were given Muslim names under pressure. Even her own name was also forcibly changed from Meenu to Ruksar, a Muslim name. Around two years ago, Meenu managed to escape Nadeem’s house with her four children and began living independently. However, the harassment did not stop. Nadeem continued to threaten and pressure her to convert to Islam. He warned her that if she changed her children's names to Hindu ones, he would kill all of them. On 21 April 2025, Nadeem arrived at her residence armed with a knife and threatened to kill her if she did not convert, and warned her that he would not allow her to live in a Hindu locality. In addition to ongoing threats, Nadeem and his family also financially exploited her and robbed her of ₹35,000 and coerced her into signing divorce papers. After enduring all this ordeal, Meenu finally approached the police and filed a complaint. As of the date of writing this report, a case was registered by the police, and Nadeem and his brother Zubair were arrested by the police. The investigation was ongoing.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu, and the tertiary category selected 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. The second sub-category selected here is : - Forced conversion after marriage. In such cases, a non-Hindu man marries a Hindu woman, and the force/pressure to convert to Islam begins after marriage. 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. 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 man starts to pressure the woman to convert to Islam after marriage. 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 situations, there is application of force by the perpetrator, including the denial of the woman’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the woman is forced/pressured to convert include force-feeding beef, being forced to read the Kalma, being forced to wear a hijab, forced to undergo Halala, etc. There are several instances where, after marriage, the woman 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 third sub-category selected here 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 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. The other primary category selected here is- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and the tertiary category selected is- 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu was pressured for religious conversion and endured sustained physical and mental abuse by a Muslim man, posing as a Hindu. The accused lured her into marriage by pretending to share the same faith as the victim. The perpetrator deliberately concealed his religious identity to initiate and sustain a relationship with a Hindu woman. 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. When the victim discovered the accused's true identity, he immediately began pressuring her to convert to Islam. She was forced to wear a burqa, denied contact with her family, and was prohibited from leaving the house. This wasn’t just physical confinement; it was a calculated effort aimed at isolating her from outside help and disconnecting her from her Hindu identity. She was given a new name in an attempt to erase her religious and personal identity altogether. These acts were not only physical violations but were also deeply symbolic assaults on her religious freedom and personal agency. Not only was she coerced into adopting Islam, but all four of her children were given Muslim names against her will. This was not an isolated act but part of a deliberate attempt to erase Hindu identity across generations, using deception, coercion, and violence—hallmarks of religiously motivated grooming and predatory proselytisation. Additionally, the victim was forced into prostitution by the accused’s family. This was not isolated abuse but a systematic tool of domination and subjugation of the Hindu woman. In this case, sexual violence was used as a tool of control and religious enforcement. The idea was simple: trap a Hindu woman, use her, extract value from her, and ensure that the next generation is cut off from its Hindu roots. Furthermore, compounding the religious dimension, she was also financially exploited. The accused’s family not only used her body as a source of income but openly stated that this was their intent in marrying her. Their goal was not a genuine relationship but the economic and religious subjugation of a Hindu woman. The accused treated her not as a wife or his equal, but as a tool for religious and economic exploitation. These actions stem from inherent hostility that Abrahamic faiths, in this case Islam, have 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. Thus, the targeting of Meenu was not incidental—it was rooted in her being a Hindu woman who was seen as someone to be dominated, converted, and exploited. 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 documents incidents based on the date of occurrence. In the FIR, the victim stated that she was married 14 years ago, which was when her ordeal began, without mentioning a specific date or month. Thus, for documentation purposes, the incident has been recorded as 1 January 2011. This is an indicative date, used as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged on June 19, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.