Hindu man harassed by Muslim wife and in-laws for religious conversion; taken to Chhangur Peer, minor daughters given Muslim names
Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, India 
21 July, 2025
Case Summary
In the Sarbatkhani area of Bhadohi district, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu man named Jyotirmay Rai, along with his two minor daughters, was pressured and harassed for religious conversion by his Muslim wife and in-laws. According to reports, the Hindu man met a girl, his future wife, through social media in 2016. During that time, the girl told her name as Ishita, adopting a Hindu name. Gradually, their relationship turned romantic, and they decided to get married in 2017. Just before marriage, when Jyotirmay asked for her Aadhar card, it was then discovered that her real name was Afreen Jahan and that she was a Muslim. However, Afreen emotionally manipulated him by saying that she would convert to Hinduism, which he also agreed as he loved her. In 2017, they both got married in Prayagraj at an Arya Samaj temple according to Hindu customs, after Afreen converted to Hinduism. Their married life was going well, and they had two daughters. Jyotirmay named the elder daughter Kundal and the younger one Radha. However, Jyotirmay’s in-laws began visiting his home and gradually started and started brainwashing and poisoning his wife's ears by urging her to convert Jyotirmay to Islam. Influenced by this, his wife began praising and talking about the virtues of Islam and urged him to convert. He also stated that whenever he performed any Hindu rituals like ringing the temple bell or reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, his in-laws would cover their ears. He was blackmailed by his in-laws to either convert to Islam or divorce Afreen. When he resisted such conversion efforts, they took his daughters and wife to Lucknow. When Jyotirmay attempted to bring them back, his wife and in-laws pressured him to convert. During this time, he was also forced to recite the Kalma under threats by keeping a knife to his daughter's neck. He was made to offer Namaaz, visit a mosque, and observe Roza. The names of their daughters were also changed and were given Muslim names, Alisha and Afsa. Furthermore, the Hindu man was taken to meet Changur Baba, a Muslim cleric, who tried to convince him to embrace Islam, promising him a place in heaven, and telling him that he would get rich, citing examples of individuals who had converted. He recounted being physically assaulted in Lucknow for refusing to follow Islamic traditions and stated that his in-laws threatened that unless he accepted Islam, he would have to forget about his wife and daughters. 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. The Hinduphobia Tracker had previously documented multiple cases involving Chhangur Baba. In all these cases, Hindu victims were religiously profiled, deliberately targeted because of their religious identity, and were forced to convert to Islam through the use of force, deception, harassment, incentives, and intimidation. After he returned to Bhadohi, he lodged a formal complaint with the ADG Varanasi and approached the High Court seeking custody of his daughters and action against his in-laws. As of the date of writing this report, the investigation was ongoing.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Forced to convert after marriage, with the tertiary category being: - Forced to follow non-Hindu practices. In such cases, a non-Hindu woman marries a Hindu man and the force/pressure against the Hindu man to convert to Islam begins after marriage. In such cases, the marriage is consensual in most cases and often, there is no element of the non-Hindu woman hiding her religious identity. 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 woman starts to pressure the Hindu man to convert to Islam after marriage. In such cases, there is application of force/pressure by the perpetrator, including, denial of the man’s religious rights. Some of the means by which the man is forced/pressured to convert include forcing/pressurizing the man to involuntarily consume beef, pressurizing/forcing to read the Kalma, forced circumcision, forced to go to the mosque, etc. There are several instances where after marriage, the man 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 second sub-category selected here is: - Blackmailed to convert. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is blackmailed to convert his religion. 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 woman starts blackmailing a Hindu man to convert his religion. In these cases, it is often seen that the Hindu man is blackmailed with intimate photos and/or videos, threats of harm to his 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. The third sub-category selected here is: - Attacked by non-Hindu partner or/and her family. When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is forced to convert his religion and upon his refusal to do so, the partner or/and her family attacks the victim. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu woman or her family starts forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert. In some of these cases, the association could be non-consensual as well or, the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman could be previously unknown to the Hindu victim. In such cases, the Hindu man is first forced/pressurized to change his religion by the non-Hindu woman or her family. The force/pressure could involve threats. The trigger for directing violence against the Hindu man is in these cases his refusal to comply and change his religion under threat and/or force. In other cases that have been documented, it is also seen that the Hindu partner is assaulted by the non-Hindu woman or her family simply for his relationship with the non-Hindu woman and by virtue of him following the Hindu faith and not the religion of the non-Hindu woman. In such cases, the relationship is consensual in most cases and the religion of both partners is known to the other. Often, in such cases, there is no direct force/pressure to convert either, however, the attack is a result of the Hindu man being in a relationship with the non-Hindu partner and not following her religion/following Hinduism specifically. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The second primary category selected here is: - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected here 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 second sub-category selected here 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. The third sub-category selected here is: - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being: - 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 man, along with his two minor daughters, was pressured and harassed for religious conversion by his Muslim wife and in-laws. The deception and malicious intent were visible from the very beginning. The Muslim woman had initially pretended to be Hindu to enter into the relationship. After the truth came out, both still decided to get married and went on to have two daughters. However, soon after, the in-laws began brainwashing the wife to pressure her husband to convert to Islam. In the Islamic faith, a marriage is deemed illegitimate if the non-Muslim partner does not convert to Islam. For those who practice the faith, when their daughter marries a Hindu man without the man converting to Islam, the difference in religions followed becomes the main point of disapproval for the family of the Muslim woman. Because of the ingrained element of religious supremacy in Islam, the perpetrator's family believes that such interfaith relationships diminish the family’s ‘honour’. In this case, too, the refusal of the Hindu man to convert was seen not just as defiance but as an affront to their religious identity, prompting the family of the Muslim woman to escalate their tactics from overt brainwashing to outright violence just to induce conversion. When Jyotirmay resisted conversion, the perpetrators used his daughters as leverage. His wife and in-laws took both children to Lucknow and began cutting him off from them. They even changed their minor daughters' names to Muslim names: Alisha and Afsa. This changing of names was an attempt to alienate minor daughters from their Hindu identity, which is often seen in cases of predatory proselytisation. It is important to note here that Jyotirmay's two daughters were minors and thus incapable of providing informed consent to such conversion activities. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully mature, making them more vulnerable. This case demonstrates a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. The Hindu man was subjected to intense psychological and physical harassment. He was physically assaulted, forced to read the Kalma under duress, made to observe Roza, and taken to the mosque to perform Namaaz. The perpetrators even held a knife to his daughter’s neck to compel him into submission and convert him. This weaponisation of his children reflects a strategic use of emotional and physical blackmail to induce conversion in the victim. It is a particularly brutal way to force someone to abandon their faith. He was also taken to Chhangur Baba, a figure involved in religious indoctrination, where he was promised wealth, offered inducements and a place in heaven if he converted. This attempt at inducement illustrates how conversion efforts are not always enforced through violence alone but are also presented through calculated manipulation. Offering incentives or making false promises, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, shows that these incentives are not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they are calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindus because of their religion. By providing inducements or promising heaven or a wealthy lifestyle in exchange for conversion, the accused were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance or hope. This form of coercion strips people of their agency and dignity and results in coerced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather cases deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. It is important to note that 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. Such actions stem from inherent hostility 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. Therefore, coercion, blackmail, threats, inducement, and the exploitation of children were all attempts aimed at dismantling the Hindu identity of the victim and his two minor daughters. 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: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media.
Victim Details
Total Victim
3
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 2
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 3
Age Group
- Minor 2
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
