Hindu woman raped under pretext of marriage, blackmailed, and forced to convert by Muslim man masquerading as Hindu

Case ID : e274922 | Location : Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 31 December, 2021

Case ID : e274922

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

31 December, 2021

Hindu woman raped under pretext of marriage, blackmailed, and forced to convert by Muslim man masquerading as Hindu

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Forced conversion before marriage

Blackmailed to convert

Brainwashed and/or groomed

Rape and sexual assault/harassment

Case Summary

In Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, a 32-year-old Hindu woman was lured into a relationship and raped under the pretext of marriage by a Muslim man named Rafeeq, who posed as a Hindu man named Raja to entrap her. The accused also blackmailed the victim and coerced her to convert to Islam. Additionally, he exploited her financially. According to media reports, the victim owned a grocery store and was experiencing difficulties in her marriage, which led her to live separately from her husband with her son. During this period, Rafeeq, who lived in the neighbourhood, frequently visited her shop to purchase groceries. In 2022, he deceived the woman by posing as a Hindu and initiated a relationship with her. Rafeeq, an auto driver by profession, made false promises of marriage and even assured her that he would adopt her son, thereby gaining her trust. Subsequently, Rafeeq sexually assaulted her under the pretext of marriage and secretly recorded explicit videos of her. He also persuaded the woman to finance a new auto rickshaw for him, costing Rs 1.5 lakh, for which she was responsible for the loan instalments. The loan was completed in September 2024. Afterwards, Rafeeq demanded additional money for repairs, leading the woman to secure a further Rs 1,40,000 loan from a private bank on his behalf. During this time, the woman was diagnosed with cancer. She then discovered that Raja’s real name was Rafeeq. When she confronted him, Rafeeq began blackmailing her with the explicit videos and threatened to make them public. He also pressured her to have sexual relations with his friends and to convert to Islam. On 14th January 2025, Rafeeq again sexually assaulted her, threatening to kill her child. This prompted the woman to file a complaint against Rafeeq. Gandhi Nagar Police Station in-charge, Bijendra Merscole, stated that a case had been filed against the accused based on the woman's complaint, and he was apprehended by the police.

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. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Man pretends to be Hindu. Within this, 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 other subcategory selected is- Brainwashed and/ or groomed. Within this, the tertiary category selected 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 subcategory selected is- Forced conversion before marriage. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Forced to do Nikah. 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 other subcategory selected 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 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. Distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the crime was committed while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. Firstly, the Hindu woman was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man who had concealed his religious identity by posing as a Hindu to trap her. Therafter she was raped under the pretext of marriage. This deliberate deception and subsequent exploitation demonstrate clear bias and malicious intent towards the victim due to her religion. By adopting a false Hindu identity, the Muslim perpetrator exploited the Hindu woman's trust and specifically targeted her based on her religious background, indicating a premeditated attack on the Hindu woman and a disregard for her religious customs and beliefs. The Muslim perpetrator was well aware that the victim, being Hindu, would likely refuse to be in a romantic relationship with him if she knew his real identity, so he targeted her by concealing his identity. The fact that he pretended to be a Hindu showcases that the victim was religiously profiled and targeted due to her Hindu identity. Such actions are not random or isolated cases but are directed specifically at individuals because of their religious affiliation. Whenever a man deliberately hides his religious identity to deceive a woman from a different faith into a relationship, he intends to exploit the woman based on her religious identity. This is a clear manifestation of bias and malicious intent towards the victim's religion. This targeted attack is a direct expression of hate and intolerance towards the victim's religion; hence, this case is an example of a religious hate crime. Furthermore, the woman was forced to convert to Islam. This highlights that this was not simply a case of rape and sexual exploitation, but an attempt to strip the victim of her religious autonomy and force her to convert to Islam. These actions reflect that the Muslim perpetrator had deep-seated religious animosity towards the victim due to her religion. It also suggests that the victim was specifically targeted to further the broader agenda of religious conversion. The Muslim perpetrator also pressured the Hindu woman to engage in sexual relations with his friends, demonstrating that the Muslim perpetrator intended to further sexually exploit the Hindu woman. He also raped the woman by threatening to kill her son. Such behaviour clearly showcases that the perpetrator viewed the Hindu woman merely as a sexual object. The actions combined with the religious profiling of the victim strongly suggest that she was deliberately targeted for exploitation due to the perpetrator’s intense hatred and disdain for her faith. Such acts reflect deep-seated animosity towards Hindu women, fuelled by the Islamic theology, which supports the exploitation of non-Muslim women, in this case, Hindu women, by Muslim men and considers it a 'noble deed'. These actions starkly illustrate the profound religious hostility directed at the victim because of her Hindu identity. Moreover, the Muslim perpetrator secretly captured explicit videos of the victim, using them to blackmail her into continued sexual exploitation and to pressure her to convert to Islam. This showcases that the perpetrator's blackmailing technique was intended to make the Hindu victim submit to his conversion demands, rooted in hostility towards her religious identity. The victim was specifically targeted, sexually exploited, and blackmailed with the underlying objective of religious conversion and exploitation, making this a clear case of a religiously motivated crime. Such acts of forced religious conversions using coercion, deceit, and force are not random isolated cases but rather a premeditated attack on the Hindu victim due to her religious identity. Muslim perpetrators often engage in such acts with an intent to undermine the original faith of the victim, reflecting deep-seated animosity and hostility towards Hinduism and the Hindu community as a whole. This targeting is indicative of a broader pattern of religiously motivated hostility and attempts to erode the religious identity of the Hindu victim. The targeting of the victim based on her religion using deceit, combined with rape under pretext of marriage, blackmail, pressure to convert, and pressure to have sexual relations with the perpetrator's friends is what makes this case a hate crime against a Hindu woman and justifies its inclusion in the hate crime database. Disclaimer: The media report on this case does not specify the exact date when the victim’s ordeal began. The only indication is that it occurred in 2022, when she first met the perpetrator. As Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s ordeal began, rather than the date of reporting, an indicative date of 1st January 2022 has been used, although the incident was reported in the media on 20th June 2025.