Hindu woman raped and coerced to convert to Islam; Hindu deities denigrated by Muslim manager
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India 
6 July, 2025
Case Summary
A 25-year-old Hindu woman employed at Lucknow's Lulu Mall was raped by her senior manager, Mohammad Faraj alias Faraaz. He also forced the victim to convert to Islam through coercion. The accused also repeatedly denigrated Hindu deities and Hinduism. As per reports, the victim was originally from Sultanpur district and worked at Lulu Mall. The Muslim accused was employed as a senior cash manager at the same location. A few months ago, he took the victim to his house under a false pretext and served her cold drinks laced with intoxicants. After consuming the drink, the victim lost consciousness. She was then raped by the accused, who also recorded an obscene video of her. The victim was subsequently blackmailed by the accused to convert to Islam. He threatened her, took away all her cash and jewellery, and warned her that he would circulate the video on social media. The accused gave her an ultimatum, stating that she would have to convert to Islam if she wished to continue working at the mall. When the victim refused, she was beaten and abused by the accused. As per the victim, the Muslim accused even burnt her with cigarettes when she refused to convert. Simultaneously, he threatened to dismiss her from her job if she did not comply. Reports stated that the accused frequently insulted Hinduism and Hindu deities to deliberately hurt the victim's sentiments. He also issued death threats to her. Deeply distressed, the victim approached the police and registered a case at the Sushant Golf City police station on 7th July 2025. The police arrested the accused cash manager, Mohammad Farhaj alias Faraaz, on 8th July 2025. DCP North, Nipun Aggarwal, confirmed that a case was registered against the accused under serious sections, including rape and forced religious conversion. Following this, the police continued their investigation and began interrogating other employees working at the mall.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Predatory Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Within this, the tertiary category selected is- Rape and sexual assault/ harassment. 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. The other subcategory selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other subcategory selected is- Attempting to convert/ converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. This incident is a stark demonstration of a religiously motivated crime against a Hindu woman. The sexual violence, followed by intense religious intimidation by the Muslim perpetrator, makes it clear that her religious identity was the primary reason that she was targeted by the Muslim man. Firstly, the perpetrator raped the victim and then began to force her to convert to Islam. In this case, she was blackmailed and subjected to relentless coercion. This coercion directly violated her religious freedom, stripping her of the right to practise her own faith and maintain her religious identity. The use of force in attempting to convert her shows the entrenched animosity the perpetrators held for Hindus and their faith. The act of sexual violence was not only a grave violation in itself, but was also used as a tool to pressure the victim into adopting Islam. Such coercion makes the religious motive behind the crime crystal clear. In many similar cases, Muslim perpetrators have used sexual violence as a means to pressure Hindu women into converting to Islam, making it a crime driven by religious motivation. Secondly, the victim was blackmailed with an obscene video that the perpetrator had recorded, and she was subjected to physical violence for refusing to convert. The perpetrator went so far as to burn her with cigarettes and issue death threats when she stood her ground. These actions demonstrate a deliberate use of coercion, blackmail, and violence to strip a Hindu woman of her religious identity. Such actions are a result of deep-rooted religious hostility towards Hindus and their faith. Furthermore, the perpetrator threatened to dismiss her from her job if she did not convert to Islam. This highlights how he exploited her vulnerable position at work to further his agenda of religious conversion. Such acts of coercion to further the agenda of religious conversion demonstrate the religious motivation behind the crime even more evidently. Additionally, the Muslim perpetrator also abused Hindu deities and insulted Hinduism in an effort to coerce the victim into converting. Such actions reveal a deep-seated religious animosity and contempt towards Hinduism and its adherents. Hindu deities are deeply revered by the Hindu community, and deliberately insulting them to force conversion demonstrates profound hatred and intolerance towards the Hindu faith and its adherents. This further underscores the religiously motivated nature of the crime. Since this case meets multiple parameters of a religiously motivated crime, it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not specify the exact date when the victim’s ordeal began. They indicate only that the accused raped the victim a few months ago. Therefore, for this case, we are recording the date of the incident as the date when the FIR was filed–7th July 2025.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
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 
