Hindu woman deceived in relationship by Muslim man, abandoned with child after marriage

Case ID : e274aad | Location : Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 31 December, 2018

Case ID : e274aad

Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, India

31 December, 2018

Hindu woman deceived in relationship by Muslim man, abandoned with child after marriage

Undecided cases

Case Summary

A Hindu woman in Ahilyanagar (Ahmadnagar) was deceived into an interfaith marriage under false pretences by a man named Junaid Sheikh, who concealed his existing marriage. The woman lodged a formal complaint stating that the relationship began in 2019 when she met Junaid at a clothing market, where he introduced himself deceptively, built trust, and later proposed marriage. They were married at a private residence in Kapurbawdi, and the couple had a son, who is now four years old. The victim disclosed that Junaid never introduced her to his family and kept her confined to a rented house, hiding her from his household. When she questioned his reluctance to accept her publicly or take her to his home, he began physically assaulting her. The woman also reported harassment and threats from Junaid’s family members eventually. Upon discovering that Junaid was already married, she confronted him, but he eventually denied all responsibility for her and the child. She filed a police complaint and also approached the State Women’s Commission, submitting photographs and documents as proof of marriage. In her public appeal, she demanded legal action against Junaid for deception and abuse, seeking justice for herself and her son.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been classified under the "Undecided" category due to the lack of concrete evidence pointing to the religious motivation behind the crime. In this case, a Hindu woman was befriended, exploited by the Muslim perpetrator after marriage, and then abandoned with the son she had with him. Although there was a clear deception at play as he pretended to be unmarried even after being married, there is no indication of a religious motive per se. Although this could potentially be a crime motivated by religious profiling, as it has been observed that in many cases, Muslim perpetrators target Hindu women and girls due to inherent animosity towards Hindus. Hindu women and girls are very vulnerable to crimes like rape and sexual exploitation at the hands of Muslim men. It could also be argued that for a Muslim perpetrator, a Muslim woman would likely be more accessible than a Hindu woman. The fact that the perpetrator specifically targeted the Hindu woman could suggest religious profiling of the victim. However, it is also possible that the crime was one of opportunity, where the Hindu woman was simply accessible to the Muslim perpetrator. Nevertheless, this remains speculative, as the case details provide no clear indication of religious motivations. For this reason, the case has been added to the 'Undecided' database. If further information emerges that hints towards a religiously motivated crime, then it would be reclassified and included under the Hate Crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports state that the victim’s ordeal began when she met the accused in 2019, though no exact date or month is provided. To document this case, we have used an indicative date—January 1, 2019—as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged on July 3, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.