Hindu woman deceived into marriage by Muslim man pretending to be Hindu; coerced to convert to Islam by Muslim man linked to Peer Chhangur

Case ID : e274c83 | Location : Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 17 July, 2020

Case ID : e274c83

Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

17 July, 2020

Hindu woman deceived into marriage by Muslim man pretending to be Hindu; coerced to convert to Islam by Muslim man linked to Peer Chhangur

Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes

Man pretends to be Hindu

Name Changed

Marries as per Hindu rituals

Forced conversion after marriage

Assault or threat upon refusal to convert

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Case Summary

In Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was lured into a romantic relationship and subsequently married by a Muslim man. The accused had posed as a Hindu youth while deceiving the woman into a relationship and married her as per Hindu rituals. After marriage, the accused exerted pressure on the victim to renounce Hinduism and adopt Islam, but was not successful. He then took her to Muslim Peer Chhangur alias Jalaluddin, who is known for converting several Hindus to Islam by use of force, deception, and coercion. There, she was also coerced and enticed with incentives to adopt Islam. The main accused in this case is a Muslim man named Tabish Asgar, who was pretending to be a Hindu man named Vishal Rana. The victim was a young Hindu woman who was originally from the Shahjahanpur district. However, she was residing in Sector-113, Noida, and worked for a private company. According to media reports, the accused met the victim in 2020. He befriended her and gradually drew her into a romantic relationship. Following this, he married her according to Hindu rituals on 22nd February 2023. After their marriage, Tabish took the woman to the High Court. There she learnt from official documents that his real name was Tabish and not Vishal Rana and that he was Muslim. Initially, he concealed his true faith but later admitted it. He then began pressuring her to convert to Islam. The woman stated that she was pregnant when Tabish was coercing her to change her faith, but she refused. As a result, she was forced to take medications, which led to a miscarriage. She was also issued death threats by Tabish for not converting to Islam. Following this, the woman filed a complaint against Tabish. A case was registered with the Sector-113 police station on 3rd December 2024. Tabish was subsequently arrested after an investigation. In her statement before the magistrate on 23rd December 2024, the woman described how, in January 2024, Tabish took her to Lucknow’s Imambara. From there, he took her to the shrine of Muslim Peer Chhangur Baba. She said she was forced to convert to Islam at the shrine. She was compelled to recite the Kalma (the Islamic declaration of faith). She further stated that, amidst the coercion, she was also offered money to convert. After the network linked to Chhangur Baba was exposed in 2025, the victim contacted the ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) and shared her ordeal. Chhangur Baba is a Muslim Peer who, along with his accomplices, had forcibly converted several Hindus to Islam by use of deceit, force, coercion, manipulation, and threats. In his case, the ATS (Anti-terrorism Squad) registered a case against 10 people, including Chhangur alias Jalaluddin and arrested him along with his wife on 5th July 2025. The ATS confirmed that the Muslim accused received foreign funding of Rs 100 crore to carry out illegal conversions of Hindus and other non-Muslims in India. Even his family was involved in the conversions of Hindus to Islam. Jalaluddin alias Chhangur had links with Pakistan’s ISI. He also used a Christian missionary network for carrying out forced religious conversions. Jalaluddin had connections with Christian missionary networks active in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh along the India-Nepal border. He used to pay members of these missionary networks in exchange for information about poor and vulnerable families that he could target for conversion. After getting the details of his targets, Jalaluddin used to approach them with lucrative offers and promises of a better life after conversion. His gang particularly targeted vulnerable Hindu women, whom he referred to as “project” in his code language. He used to give money to Muslim men to lure or coerce Hindu women to Islam. The prices were fixed based on the caste of the Hindu women. Though according to the evidence found so far, Chhangur has converted more than 1500 people, the Hinduphobia Tracker has previously documented six cases where Chhangur was involved. He used coercion to convert Hindu individuals to Islam. In the first case, Chhangur encouraged a Muslim man named Meraj to lure a Hindu woman named Aarti by posing as a Hindu. Afterwards, Chhangur, along with Meraj, forcibly converted her to Islam and conducted her Nikah according to Islamic customs. Another case involved a Hindu man named Harjeet, who was forcibly converted to Islam by Chhangur. The accused had offered Harjeet incentives and subjected him to harassment and had filed false cases against him in an attempt to persuade him to convert to Islam. Similarly, in another case, in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu man named Sanchit and his wife were lured to convert to Islam with incentives by the Muslim Peer Chhangur. Both victims were also subjected to death threats and were harassed with false cases for refusing to convert. Another such instance was reported in Faridabad, Haryana, where a minor Hindu girl was brainwashed and forcibly converted to Islam by her Muslim neighbours who were part of a Muslim gang run by the Muslim peer Chhangur. After her conversion, her Hindu identity was erased, she was given a Muslim name, compelled to wear a burqa, forced to perform Islamic rituals, and fed meat against her beliefs. She was horrifically exploited sexually, blackmailed using obscene videos, and pushed into prostitution. Another such case of a Hindu woman from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, who was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man. The accused pretended to be Hindu and had manipulated and brainwashed her into converting to Islam. The victim had been missing since 2019. The accused was also linked to the Islamic cleric Peer Chhangur. In another such case, a Hindu woman named Rashmi (name changed) from Karnataka was trafficked to Saudi Arabia and subjected to years of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse as part of a systematic religious conversion racket operated under the influence of Islamic Peer Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba. Under false pretences of marriage and employment, the woman was entrapped, manipulated, and eventually transported across international borders.

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. The tertiary category selected is- 'Name Changed' and 'Marries as per Hindu rituals'. 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- 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 other subcategory selected 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. Another primary category selected in this case is- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the 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- Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. This case meets several parameters to be classified as a crime motivated by religious animosity. Firstly, the Muslim perpetrator had lured the woman into a relationship, followed by marriage, by posing as a Hindu. He also married her as per Hindu rituals to reinforce his fabricated identity. This act itself demonstrates a clear bias and malicious intent towards the victim’s religion. By hiding his true identity, he manipulated her trust and targeted her under false pretences, indicating a premeditated effort to exploit the woman based on her religious background. Additionally, the marriage conducted according to Hindu rituals legitimised the relationship in the eyes of the woman and the wider Hindu community. This constituted a direct violation of her right to informed consent regarding whom she chose to marry, as well as an infringement upon her religious beliefs. Thus, the perpetrator’s deliberate decision to hide his religious identity strongly underscores the religious motive behind this crime. In such instances, identity concealment is not just a deceptive tactic for personal reasons but a calculated strategy rooted in religious profiling and targeting. The accused was aware that the victim, being Hindu, would likely refuse his advances if she knew his real identity, and he circumvented this by lying, which directly points to a religiously driven intent. This deception reflects a larger pattern where Hindu women are specifically singled out using false identities, often with coercion or conversion in mind. Such targeted victimisation based on religion not only demonstrates a fundamental disregard for Hinduism but also exposes a deeper animosity toward Hindus and their beliefs. Secondly, after the woman discovered his true identity, she was forced to convert to Islam. This clearly demonstrates that the Muslim perpetrator deliberately deceived the Hindu woman to pursue his underlying objective of religious conversion. Such actions constitute a violation of the Hindu woman's right to practise her faith and an attempt to strip her of her Hindu identity. These acts reflect deep-seated religious animosity and disdain towards Hindus and Hinduism. Thirdly, the woman was forced to take medications when she was pregnant. This led to her miscarriage. She was also subjected to death threats by the Muslim perpetrator when she refused to convert to Islam. Such actions of the Muslim perpetrator further reinforce the religious motive. When the woman resisted conversion, the Muslim perpetrator felt his perceived authority or dominance was being challenged, not just personally, but ideologically. This led to actions which resulted in her miscarriage, and she was also subjected to death threats. Such acts were committed against her to break her spirit and make her comply with the perpetrator's conversion demands. This is a clear instance of religiously motivated coercion, aimed at eroding the victim’s identity and forcing conformity through fear. It sends a strong signal that anyone who refuses to comply will face harsh repercussions. Such acts are inherently rooted in hate, not just toward the individual, but toward the faith she represents. After all this, she was forcibly taken to Muslim peer Chhangur Baba, who is well known for forcibly converting several Hindus to Islam by using force, deceit, coercion and manipulation. The victim in this case was forced to convert to Islam by Chhnagur Baba and the Muslim perpetrator. She was forcibly made to recite the Kalma (the Islamic declaration of faith). In the broader context of hate crimes, forcing someone to engage in behaviour that is expressly forbidden or offensive in their religion is a clear manifestation of religious intolerance. It demonstrates a blatant disregard for the victim's rights to practice their faith freely. Here, the actions of the perpetrator clearly point towards the deep disdain he harboured for Hindus and their religious beliefs. It is evident that the perpetrator targeted the victim because of her religious identity and that his motivation was driven by religious hate. The sequence of events here showcases that the Muslim perpetrator was in connection with the Islamic Peer Chhangur and had religiously profiled and targeted the Hindu woman with the sole aim of converting her to Islam. Such actions showcase that the crime was a premeditated and well-coordinated attack to make the Hindu victim forcibly discard her faith. Such actions are a serious violation of the victim's religious autonomy and therefore underscore the religiously motivated nature of the crime. Furthermore, the victim also stated that she was issued monetary incentives to convert to Islam. The use of incentives by the Muslim perpetrator and the Islamic Peer to persuade the Hindu victim to convert to Islam makes it clear that their actions were not motivated by goodwill or compassion. Instead, this was a calculated attempt to exploit the Hindu woman because of her religion. Coercion of this kind robs individuals of their agency and dignity, and enforces conversions against their will. These are not isolated events, but deliberate and premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, to persuade Hindu individuals to abandon their beliefs and convert them to Islam. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindus and their faith. This case clearly demonstrated that the Muslim perpetrator, Tabish, was not acting alone but was part of a wider network led by Chhangur, known for orchestrating forced conversions and manipulating vulnerable people, especially Hindu women, into abandoning their faith. This affiliation demonstrates that the crime was part of a broader, organised effort to target the Hindu community through deceit, manipulation, brainwashing, and coercion, defining it as a hate crime with significant communal and religious implications. It has been proved that Peer Chhangur for running a huge conversion racket and was giving money to Muslim men to lure or coerce Hindu women to Islam. The prices were fixed based on the caste of the Hindu women. This establishes a deliberate and targeted pattern of predatory proselytisation amounting to a hate-driven campaign against Hindus. The Chhangur Baba case is not merely an individual crime but a manifestation of a larger ideological campaign aimed at the gradual Islamisation of India. This agenda seeks to erode Hindu identity and alter the country's demographic and cultural fabric. Muslim extremists often harbour deep-seated animosity towards Hindus and view India as a Hindu collectivity that must be dismantled or subdued. The ideological roots of this mindset go back to the very basis of the Partition of India, which was that the Muslims believed that Islam was a nation unto itself, which could not survive with a Hindu collectivity like India. Historically, Islamic conquests have not always relied solely on military force; they have also operated through psychological coercion, forced conversions, and cultural erasure. This case reflects the continuation of that same mindset in modern forms. In summary, this case constitutes a deliberate campaign to convert Hindus to Islam by use of coercion, deceit and harassment. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date and month when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest indication is that she met the accused five years ago, that is, year 2020. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, and the media reported this case on July 18 2025, we have used an indicative date of July 18, 2020, as the date of the incident.